Ch 6 - Isolation

As it moved, the pack did not expand, but instead

moved on, simply devouring what it saw ahead in an

imaginary line that cut through Ambungi and was now

heading toward our camp. As soon as we saw the last

feather of a Guardian's tail disappear, we descended from

the rock formation, following the animals. It had been

many hours since we had eaten and I could no longer

stand Keene complaining about the lack of coffee, which

made me more anxious to get to the base. We kept about

twenty meters between us and the ring of Guardians,

continuing as close as possible so as not to lose them.

Our exhaustion was already obvious, but since the

resources had been depleted, it was time for one of us to

volunteer to go through the stuffy jungle again.

— Who would volunteer to take this trash back

to the boat and get us some food? — asked Lane with a

broad smile. Funny how some people are not able to

understand the tiredness of others, isn't it? The only

explanation I can come up with is that they don't do

anything to get tired themselves.

— Kevin and I will go, — replied Keene with his

hands on his waist. — You lot follow the herd so that we

don't have to spend another day looking for them.

Besides, it's only appropriate that Lucy goes with you;

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that way you won't get near the dinosaurs. — Laughing

like a mischievous child, Lane returned:

— I can't promise anything...

Behind us, Lane hooked himself on Lucy's arm to

set off together after the herd. Not wanting to irritate

Keene any further, I let him go ahead of me when the

path narrowed, and two hours passed in this painful

walk, without a single word being exchanged between

us. Finally, we reached the shore again and the

abandoned village. Our boat still anchored a few meters

from the sand served to get rid of the little garbage we

had produced and that we would take back to

civilization. We then thought about what resource to

exploit and I remembered some species of fish that

would make a good catch for our group. I gathered the

thick branch of a tree and tied to its end some strips that

I tore from my flannel shirt, preparing some gasoline

from one of the gallons to light the torch when night

came. From one of the houses, we grabbed a circular

fishing net that we would use during the operation and

sat down on the cabin seats, feeling the waves gently

rocking our boat like a cradle, and waited for the sun to

disappear. Keene looked at the desolate landscape that

were those houses without owners and said in a soft

voice:

— You know, Kevin, you lot are right. This is the

most important of our expeditions; after all, it's the first

one where we've had any real results, and we're going to

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bring them back. — I felt motivated again to try and start

a friendship with this man; he seemed to be becoming

human. Together we admired the ghostly landscape for a

few minutes until he said:

— But have you thought about what will happen

if we take these results back? — I reflected for a few

moments on this question, trying to understand it. —

What do you mean "if" we take them back? — I thought

to myself. — We have to! The world needs to know

about the existence of these animals. — But I couldn't

use those words with Keene, so I just asked him:

— What do you mean, Dr. Keene?

— Imagine that the whole West learns of the

existence of these beings. What do you think they will

do?

— Many will say that the evidence was

fabricated, and others will come to the island, probably,

— I said, this being my only theory.

— Precisely, — Keene agreed with a nod. —

And it's the latter that I worry about. The former are not

intelligent enough to pose any threat.

— But, Doctor...isn't that precisely the purpose of

our expedition?

— No, Kevin. It is Anthony's goal, not the

expedition's. The goal of a ship is to sail, not to reach

America, say. Lane is not reasoning well; the discovery,

the daughter nearby — all this has blinded him and he

cannot see the implications of revealing this discovery to

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the modern world. People will come to the island, yes,

but to explore these animals and make huge, ridiculous

hats with their beautiful white feathers. — Again I

meditated, and unbelievably, Keene seemed to be right.

But what about Dr. Lane? The man had waited all his life

for this moment.

— And what do we do, Dr. Keene?

— I'm not sure yet, Kevin. I wouldn't mind

spreading the word about what we found here either, but

now... I'm afraid I'm going to lose it all.

— Can't you talk to him? You have been friends

for so long.

— And this is exactly why I know that talking

won't do any good. We have to make the idea seem like

it came from him. — I nodded slowly and asked his

permission to leave because I had to start fishing. The

darkness was already palpable and above us, the stars

filled the sky as they never would in our cities cursed by

artificial lights. I soaked the fabric around the torch with

fuel and set it on fire with my flint and a small pocket

knife. I leaned the branch so that it rested against the

back seats and had the flame above the water. I then

leaned on the rail of the boat to wait for the

phytoplankton to be attracted to it. I hoped that within a

few minutes the zooplankton and finally smaller fish

would join the party. I had plenty to occupy my mind

with while I waited for nature to have the whim to feed

us. — If it was to come to this impasse, — I thought to

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myself, — why had we even started all this? — I

confess, reader, that I hate to face human problems. On

second thought, the only problems that exist are those of

humans, I believe. If a pack of wolves and a couple of

bears fight over a carcass in your national park, you go

to the base for tea; you don't stay to solve anything. Of

course, conflicts shouldn't even exist between human

beings, but we always manage to be more animalistic

than the beasts themselves. Looking at the surface of the

water now, I could see the subtle movement of the

diminutive longspot snappers, which came to devour the

feast of algae and crustaceans floating in the light of my

torch. — Of course, — I reasoned, — perhaps it was the

case that most of them did not believe the evidence.

They had not believed it even when they saw the body of

a platypus when it was brought back to the country by

the pirates who plundered Australia. We were perhaps

the most guilty in all this, however, for we were the ones

looking for the answer to the questions. For a long time,

the Komodo dragon was just a cryptid, because there

was just talk of a fantastic creature that inhabited the

islands, without anyone providing proof — just what we

were doing. Now I could see bigger movements, and I

prepared myself to throw the net into the water. The

large circular net covered the entire area illuminated by

the light of my flame and engulfed everything within its

halo. I effortfully pulled the monstrous weight the net

took on when it filled up, and the smaller fish had their

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chance to escape through the gaps in the net, leaving

only the larger ones trapped in the mesh. As I boarded

them, I noticed that they were jacks — open ocean

predators, but they also approach the reef for an easy

meal. I was thankful that they were not as big as they can

get because a one-meter fish would probably tear our

fragile net. I waited for the commotion to pass and for

the cycle to begin again, and between casting the net

every half hour and torturing my mind with bridges that I

would never cross, the night was gone and the sun rose

on the horizon, revealing the image of my face; an image

that I thanked myself for not having seen. I took the fish

to the sand and gutted them carefully so as not to spill

the contents that could ruin the flesh and force me to

waste the food. I washed them as much as I could in the

sea brine and lit a small fire with the meat hanging over

it to cure with the smoke. I set up the whole system and

let the smoke do its thing while I headed back to the boat

to wake Jacob Keene. Upon arriving at the cabin, I found

the man still recumbent and sleeping with his hands

folded over his chest. — Bizarre, — I said to myself. —

Doctor? Doctor Keene? — I called, restricting the

volume of my voice so as not to wake him up in a panic.

— Oh, good morning, Kevin! — he said

cheerfully. Somewhat paralyzed by the drastic change in

his mood, I said:

— Hmm...good morning, Doctor. I've already

prepared everything for us to take the meat back.

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— Good boy, — he replied, stretching with the

morbid sound of snapping bones. — Good boy? — I

thought, feeling like a dog receiving praise. Looking

back at me, Keene explained the advent of his prolonged

sleep:

— You know, I guess I stayed up too late

thinking. — I agreed to show that I understood, all the

while keeping my eyes down. I turned away, waiting for

him to get up and go help me with the preparations, and

went back to tending the fire. High as they were, the

strips of white meat were slowly smoked and would

remain so for a few hours. I then sat down and watched

the smoke, while a cold wind now began to blow on the

beach. The curls of smoke rose and disappeared just

above the hanging fish. Behind me, Keene's footsteps

were getting closer, and he sat down beside me to talk.

— God, you've caught enough for us to stay here

for two more days! — he said, contemplating the result

of my night's work.

— The waters here are quite rich, you know. The

credit goes more to nature than to me.

— Yes, nature is indeed splendid... but you know

how to make good use of the resources. You already

have some experience with these expeditions; you could

even undertake them on your own.

— On my own? — I repeated. — I don't think I

could stay completely alone in a place like this.

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— Oh, nonsense! You did all the research on the

biodiversity of the island and the legends and stories of

the region. It was you who got the food; otherwise, the

expedition would have ended yesterday. And tell me —

which of us said something more interesting than your

thoughts? — I reflected on his questions and understood

that people then noticed that I spent a lot of time lost in

my mind.

— You and Dr. Lane have much more

experience, which is necessary for this kind of trip, and

Lucy was brought here so that her father could spend

some time with her, — I said, trying to refute him

politely.

— You don't need any of these parasites, Kevin.

Do you think Anthony still has the strength to do what

you did tonight? I doubt it very much. And as you said,

that girl should be in college, not in this backwater. —

Here he paused for a moment that made me think — I

didn't say that — but I didn't have the spirit to express

myself. Anyway, Lucy could be wherever she wanted to

be; she was free to do so, and she had decided to come to

give Lane a chance to redeem himself. He then went on

to say:

— You need only to find a fool like Frost, from

whom to suck money, and you can spend your life buried

in the mud. In fact, that is precisely what will happen as

soon as Lane closes his eyes. — The mere thought of

losing my guardian revolted my stomach, but there was

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no denying that it would indeed happen one day. So I

could only say:

— But what about you, sir? Mr. Frost knows that

you are Dr. Lane's biggest supporter and would continue

to fund your expeditions.

— He wouldn't have to fund anything, Kevin; I

don't need that little dean to give me a dime. The point is

that I wouldn't continue to travel myself. Look around

you, Kevin — life is here. Why do you think people

spend the whole year working overtime to spend a week

in the middle of nowhere? Because that's exactly where

we were meant to live. I would love to spend the rest of

my days in a secluded spot like this, especially after the

discovery we made. — It was somewhat difficult to

imagine Jacob Keene, well dressed, as he always was,

living as a hermit. It was also not impossible; I still

remember cases where stable-minded people like you

and me resorted to this route to escape, some to escape

from such unimportant things as unrequited love and

others from much more serious things like the cruel

materialism of the modern world. The hours passed

quickly as we talked; our dialogues interspersed with

long moments of silence and getting up to put more

wood in the fire. Finally, the sun was up and the fish was

then like the best jerky. My empty backpack served as a

good container for the stock of food we would make. So

we filled it together, covered the ashes of the campfire

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with sand, and headed once more into the Ambungi

jungles.

We went faster this time, as we did not want the

group to go further than our overnight stay on the beach

had already allowed them to go. Also, I wanted to bring

food to Lucy and Dr. Lane right away; I know how

painful it is to starve. Continuing in the direction the

herd had gone, we went on for a few hours, but it was

still difficult to see anything, as the terrain had no high

points. Around mid-afternoon, when the sun was already

at an angle, we heard roaring sounds coming from the

northeast and hoped that they would remain loud so that

we could spot them. Finally, we spotted the cubs' figures

clinging to some logs in the distance and knew that we

had found the flock again.

This new place where the animals were now

feeding was not a clearing, but soon it would be, for the

mere advance of the creatures forced the forest to change

dramatically, and leading the way was the Great Leader

and whatever Guardians were in position at the time.

Following in the rear were Lucy and Dr. Lane, with the

father wrapping his arm around his daughter's to prevent

him from tripping and going down in a glorious tumble.

We approached my Master, and I called to him in a low

tone so as not to attract the dinosaurs' attention.

Overjoyed to see me, Lane hugged me and smiled with

what was left of his teeth. The front line of the circle of

Guardians advanced like true captains of the forest,

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using their long scythes for the same purpose we had

created our modest cutting tools for. They would make

their way, clearing a single line — just enough for their

herd to be interspersed with other trees that did not need

to be felled, as there was enough space between them.

When there was enough room for everyone to have a

plant to feed on, they calmed down and the dust settled.

We too settled at the roots of an ancient tree, which may

have been there for hundreds of years. Sometimes it

seems to me that even plants were created to humble us

— When you remember that some of these organisms

have lived for thousands of years before your birth, and

will still be alive for thousands of years after your

demise, there's not much to be proud of. We also try to

last for eternity by "leaving a mark on the world" or

whatever expression is used by ambitious young people

and greedy old men who sell courses to the former; but

frankly, what can be left behind? A book is perhaps the

most poetic thing to leave because you also leave

knowledge in the remains of a processed plant. I hope

that I, Kevin O'Riley, am alive while you read my

writing, dear reader.

Sitting down as we were, we simply gathered the

driest sticks from the multitude of branches that the flock

had dropped on the forest floor, and I lit them with the

flint. I staked the longest ones in the ground and with

them, I speared some of the pieces of fish I had in my

backpack. The smell it exuded was too pleasant to

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describe, but the scene was just as majestic. Not

controlling himself until the fish was nice and hot, Lane

pinched and pulled out small flakes of the fish with his

fingers, closing his eyes in pleasure. I felt sorry for my

elderly guardian, and promptly served him the biggest

morsels I had skewered, which he happily devoured,

thanking me each time a new piece was passed to him.

Lucy and I ate our fillets, gazing in admiration at this

being, who talked with his mouth full and ate with a

moan, which irritated Jacob Keene, who looked at him

as if he were watching a pig feeding on the most

unspeakable matter. Then one of the female

probactrosaurus approached us, slowly walking toward

us and sniffing. We were no longer afraid of this species,

and even the Kaiaimunus leader no longer looked at me

cautiously, so we remained motionless, waiting for the

female's reaction. The gigantic hoofed animal sniffed

each of us from some distance and stopped at Lane,

sniffing him for a long time. Lane leaned a little to the

right and noted:

— Look how much wider her belly is than that of

other females. I dare say she is pregnant. — At this, the

female gave him a big puff through her nostrils, forcing

the Doctor back to his original position. She withdrew

after that, and we were able to confirm what Lane had

noticed — her belly was actually larger. — Kevin, —

called Lane. — I've sent you to the beach many a time,

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but I have to ask a favor now. First, when you were at the

village beach, did you see any crustaceans there?

— Crustaceans, Dr. Lane? — I answered, trying

to remember. — Maybe some small ghost crabs, sir.

— Now, that will do. And they must inhabit the

entire vicinity of the island; could you go to the nearest

beach and fetch some? — Not understanding Lane's

purpose in having crustaceans when we already had too

many fish, I looked at him with a puzzled expression, but

agreed. — Yes, sir, — I said, without much confidence

in what I was saying. The flock had moved so far

northeast that we really were close to another beach, and

after walking for a few minutes I found myself on the

sand line, looking around, trying to locate one of those

pale crustaceans. However, there was not a single one in

sight, let alone a tunnel in the sand that would give away

their presence. For many minutes I walked the length of

the beach, trying to find any sign that the tiny animals

also inhabited that stretch, but without success. I then sat

down on the sand, feeling somewhat frustrated at the

idea of not bringing my guardian what he requested. I

took a piece of smoked fish from my backpack and, cold

as it was, I ate it while looking at the waves. The

continuous movement caused me to lose myself once

again in thought. — On my own? How could I do it on

my own? — I remembered what Keene had said. I took

off my backpack and put it beside me on the sand to rest

better. I had been lonely before I was taken in by Dr.

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Lane, and I can assure you that it was not a pleasant time

of my life. Before that, I didn't have the best of parents,

but the absence of something basic is no better than the

present lack of quality. I would indeed know how to

work and sustain myself in the wilderness, but at that

point in life, I would probably go crazy without others

around me. I have learned from these months of working

with my dear tutor that the best thing to do to achieve

happiness is to seek other people's happiness. At that

moment, I reached out to grab another piece of fish

hanging from the opening of my backpack but was

surprised to find nothing. When I turned to the bag, other

pieces were still further down, but the one near the

zipper was gone. I looked around, trying to find the food

thief who had snatched the smoked fish from me, and

soon found it. Still close to me, as it was no sprinter, a

crab was carrying away the piece of fish. Of medium

size, it was not as monstrous as it might one day still be,

weighing 9# and having a wingspan of 3ft. Even with

much more modest proportions, the crustacean I now

saw had enough strength to carry my smoked fish to its

lair and was doing so, for as I followed it slowly, I

noticed that it was heading for a long black rock whose

structure was not as tall as myself. I stopped following it

as soon as I understood where the animal was going and

waited for it to reach its home so that I could also study

the surroundings better. I could have easily captured that

crab and brought its body to Lane, but the opportunity to

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study its habits was even more fascinating. Besides, I

now knew that there were crustaceans on that beach and

I would not have to return empty-handed. I would study

as much as I wanted and eventually take the largest of

the specimens back to the flock. But now, I had that

interesting rock formation in front of me. Punctuated by

holes of all different sizes, it was obviously perfect for

the animals that settled there. I dare not use the word

"colony" because these animals do not seem to have

social habits of any kind. It is true that if one of them

catches a sizeable prey, such as a bird, others will be

attracted by the smell of blood and come to share the

carcass, but this cannot be called socialization. I thought

of a strategy to get a individual larger than the one I had

seen on the beach, one that probably inhabited any of

those larger tunnels, dug not by the crabs themselves, but

by lava. On the sand line, large palm trees were lined up,

producing coconuts — the perfect bait for these

crustaceans famous for the strength of their claws used

to actually peel and open coconuts and eat their white

flesh. I entwined my feet around one of the trunks, this

time not in such a hurry as I had done the day I touched

the Kaiaimunu cub, and climbed it until I could reach my

desired fruit. I remembered reading that this species

prefers to feed on coconuts that have not yet completely

dried, so the ones I had in front of me were perfect. I

knocked down just one — just enough — and with my

knife, I removed the outermost layers of its shell and

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pierced its eyes, which are the openings through which

some people insert a straw and drink coconut water

without even bothering to climb a palm tree or pay a fair

price to the person who does it. I looked proudly at my

trap that consisted of nothing more than a half-open

coconut resting near the largest entrances in the rock,

inside which I could see that there were some crabs at

the bottom of their tunnels, but I would not risk putting

my hand there only to lose it. As the rock extended for a

few more meters into the jungle, I thought of following

its formation and deciding if it was necessary to set

another trap. However, I just followed its line, never

walking on the rock itself, for, sharp as it was, it would

certainly cut my feet, and in a hot climate like

Ambungi's, an infection would make me a better

scavenger trap than the one I had set up.

As I walked along the dark rock, I smelled the

sweet smell of death, which became even more

nauseating as I entered the dense undergrowth that

surrounded me. Finally, I found a spot where the odor

was unbearable and pulled some vines out of my way to

see what it was all about. On the ground, the body of a

Kaiaimunu lay half-devoured.

The scene revolted my stomach, but working in a

national park is enough to stop the reaction at this stage,

I assure you. The animal was already very deformed and

its brown feathers, either from old age or decomposition,

were almost discolored. Covering the carcass was a

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yellowish crowd of ghost crabs, and a few coconut crabs,

all profiting from the death. There was little to study to

ascertain the cause of death, especially because the

abdomen was gone, but around the large opening where

the crustaceans fed, there were remarkably long

lacerations, as if made, perhaps, by claws. Could another

Kaiaimunu have killed that female? And, most

importantly, why was she so far from the direction her

flock was going? I was going to take those questions

back to my guardian, along with a crab. I circled the

large macabre mass until I found a sizeable specimen

and held it between the cephalothorax and the abdomen,

which is the only safe way to catch it. The monstrous

crustacean stretched its legs sideways and tried to attack

me with its claws that still clung to bits of rotten flesh,

but I continued to impose force on the middle of its body

and walked back to the opening in the vines, leaving that

horror show behind.