Ch 21 - The Purity Of A Heart...

The condo had its doors closed and would never

have them open again. On the beach along the Sazinge, a

small crowd was listening to a detailed account of the

species. The group consisted of members of the village

who had made themselves available after the elder had

allowed us to work together. The speech was not fluid, as

a good orator should make it be, nor was it enunciated,

as politicians do. This was because the speaker was a shy

young Irishman, without the preparation or desire to be

the center of attention. Whether I wanted to or not, there

I was, because Keene had summoned the entire tribe and

Lucy had introduced a speech that I didn't even know I

would have to deliver.

— Therefore, it is especially important to

emphasize... — I said stammeringly, — That one should

not fish in the waters populated by these beings, since

their weight combined with their elusive behavior can

lead to fatality.

288

The case I was citing now was that of Thabo

Amaechi. We had not reported Baruti Elya's death, as we

had no evidence of anything, and once again the

authorities would not believe our story. Even worse, I

doubt that anyone would even miss the engineer within a

few days. At my advice, a certain murmur then arose

among the crowd gathered there. Soon the muttering was

heard in the voice of a young man who questioned me:

— Stop fishing? And who will support our

families? Are you going to pay for the needs of our

wives and children?

— No, I will. — Keene's voice resounded loudly,

silencing the first.

We all turned to him, waiting for him to explain

what he meant.

— If you agree to help preserve this species by

preventing its hunting, teaching your young generation

about its importance, and most importantly, repelling

intruders, I will give each family in this area a stipend

for their help.

A sudden silence filled the place. The offer

sounded a little too good to be true, but I mean, Jacob

had the resources to do it. Lucy and I looked at each

other, considering the strangeness of it. Then a shout

echoed through the group:

— Hey, the Englishman had a good idea after all!

— The murmur that now followed was one of

agreement, while Keene stammered, trying to deal with

289

the comment that had sounded more like an insult to

him. The intense chatter of the crowd, however, was too

loud for the man's voice to be heard, as he gesticulated in

vain. Lucy looked at me once more and then we laughed,

not only at the ridiculous scene we were witnessing, but

also at the happy ending to the story — the village would

have its livelihood, without being a subterfuge for a

criminal, and the Leptocleidus would live in peace, with

a little help from the humans.

In the evening, we gathered the whole tribe

together as a huge research team; there were men and

women, old and young, finally fulfilling Anthony Lane's

dream. Bringing the boats that belonged to the

inhabitants of the tribe, we then arranged ourselves on

the banks of the inner lagoon, where we would conduct

research experiments. Keene was in his place in the

cockpit, Lucy immediately took possession of the sonar,

which was now her favorite equipment, and I...was in

charge of being the expedition specialist. Never before

had I felt that a search operation was so special as on the

occasion that I was valued as a member of the team. The

title had been coined by Lucy and it certainly appealed to

my ego or whatever was left of it. Leading our fleet of

boats was the same elder from whom we had asked

permission earlier. Sitting in his narrow canoe, the man

maintained an enviable posture and wielded his paddle

with strength. At his signal, we began to move slowly

through the waters, moving against the opposing force of

290

the waves. None of our friends had agreed to accompany

us in the speedboat, considering a sign of weakness to let

a machine do the work that a human being can perfectly

do. I admit that they have a good point in their words,

but unfortunately, the most intense effort I made was the

occasional, like lifting anchor and tightening the

moorings. I felt somewhat ashamed to contemplate the

vigor of those cheerful people surrounding us, chanting

their old songs as we made our way to the intersection.

— Kevin! — Lucy's low call distracted me from

the sweet music that filled my mind. As I approached to

see what she was indicating on the sonar display, I saw

what looked like a large static blur on the screen. Around

it, the display registered much smaller shapes, which

seemed to approach the larger one and then move away

again.

— Dr. Keene, please stop! — Perhaps surprised

by the first request I had ever made of him, Jacob turned

off the machines automatically.

— God, — he said, also analyzing the image

now, — It seems that one of the animals died in the inner

lagoon.

— Do you believe it was...the one who went back

to the lake last night? — Lucy's question was calculated,

so as not to make explicit reference to the tragedy we

had witnessed. Without so much consideration, Keene

answered:

291

— I don't think so. There should be another blur

on the screen, connected to the first one. In any case, it is

necessary to find out what caused the accident in order to

prevent it from happening again. The only question is

how we will descend to such depths.

— Now, Doctor, — Lucy said more openly, —

learn to acknowledge the superiority of others.

The advice had been accompanied by laughter,

but for Keene, it seemed difficult to imitate the gesture.

Lucy then went to the bow and called the elder. Also on

his boat was the translator, his eldest son, as we now

knew, who, in his own language, told his father that they

were being called. Clinging to the metal bars of the bow,

the elder man climbed into the boat with no less agility

than his son. Lucy Lane then reported to the younger

man what we had found and asked if there was a way to

reach the object. As soon as he finished hearing the

request in his own language, the elder man raised his

voice, calling two lads from another boat. The two, who

I thought were also part of his family, listened to a

command from the old man, who gestured little.

Agreeing to the orders, the two men threw themselves

into the waters of the lagoon. Immediately, the old man

and his son did the same, jumping out of our boat

directly into the depths.

— But what is this? — exclaimed Jacob.

— This, captain, is superiority. — With these

words, Lucy clung to the parapet of the speedboat, took a

292

deep breath, and, propelling herself with her feet against

the bars, she did the unthinkable, throwing herself into

the lake. Still ecstatic, I turned to Keene without yet

being able to keep my lips together. The Doctor, for his

part, looked just as horrified. I was about to increase his

dread even more, and I know I did, because when he

turned around again, I threw my flannel to the deck,

climbed the bars, and imitated the courageous act of

those who had already jumped. A second in the air, and

then I felt the impact of the water's surface, filling

everything around me with bubbles and darkness. When

I managed to locate myself, I realized that a hand was

grabbing my arm. I turned to see the opaque figure of

Lucy, who was pointing vigorously at something below

us. Suddenly, a beam of light shone brightly above us,

illuminating Lucy's face. Keene had mounted the condo

floodlight and was now helping as much as his courage

would allow. The vision was clearer now — there was

indeed a Leptocleidus' body and the smaller forms were

schools of fish coming and going, tearing off small

pieces of the decomposing flesh. We were about 2

meters below the surface, watching the group that had

come down earlier, 3 meters below us. They were

circling around the plesiosaur, looking for a way to lift

the huge weight to the surface, but there was nothing

more that could be done to recover the corpse. With the

movement of the light beam, it was possible to get a

better view of the neck and we discovered the cause of

293

the animal's death — a mesh of greenish fiber was

squeezing the base of its neck, constricting its throat and

eventually suffocating it. One of the men tried to lift the

carcass by pulling on the paddle-like fins. The poor man

was then left with a putrid fin in his hand, as the flesh

was torn from the rest of the body. I could already feel

my lungs burning after only a few seconds submerged,

but I managed to signal to the elder. Looking up, he

noticed me closing both hands around my throat and

imitating the act of pulling hard; Lucy reinforcing the

gesture by imitating it. But I couldn't hold on much

longer, I had to come up immediately and suck in a big

gulp of air. Lucy emerged next, but without my

exaggerated inhale. A few seconds more and the elder

came up with his men. Extending his hand, he showed

that he had understood our gesture. In the old man's

calloused hand was the fishing net that had killed the

Leptocleidus. To retrieve it, he had broken the neck of

the animal, which no longer offered any resistance, due

to its advanced state of decomposition. With his hand

outstretched to bring us back to the boat, Keene greeted

us cheerfully:

— Good job, fellas, good job! If you hadn't

removed the net, it would soon be rid of the body and

kill even more animals. — Turning to the old man, he

asked, his voice addressed to his son:

— Please, sir, prevent tourists from entering

these waters and using mesh. This is unacceptable! —

294

The request, unfortunately, sounded more like an order,

and the translator, already exasperated, did not even

translate it for his father but said in a firm voice:

— We never allowed that kind of thing here.

Objects of this kind come from the sea, where we cannot

decide what is used. — And, turning around, he touched

his father on the shoulder, indicating that they should

leave the man behind.

The whole group left the boat, went back to their

canoes and returned to the previous formation, with the

old man in the lead.

— Why had you come again, Doctor? — Lucy

asked with a smile. Keene turned to us, the corner of his

lip twitching, and, maintaining his annoyed expression,

took the helm once again.

The atmosphere had started to become tense, as

was so usual around Keene, but at least the natives kept a

good opinion of us. Surrounded by songs of tradition, we

made our way again to the intersection, where we had to

form a small single row of boats, with our speedboat

coming right after Etiename's canoe. Some of the others,

however, were narrow enough for two to follow

parallelly downstream. We calculated the distance to find

the area where we had seen the animals lay their eggs on

the beach, about 1 km before the condo. Lucy was once

again in charge of letting our leader know that this was

the spot. With a shout of command, the elder now

ordered everyone to stop there and so did we, dropping

295

anchor on the sandy bed. Dozens of people disembarked

this time, all very interested in what would be done. The

plan was to identify the places where the sand was

turned and mark them with a stick, to prevent digging in

the area, and to count the eggs after the creatures

hatched. And so we did, now happily, knowing that no

one else would harm the species. All the people helped

us in the task of gathering sticks and planting them near

the spots where the earth had been stirred up by the fins.

There was also the work of checking the lower banks for

the same pattern, where eggs might also have been laid.

Back in the boats, we descended slowly, scrutinizing the

sand with the searchlight, which was another aid that our

companions despised, claiming that the human eye is

capable of adapting to the darkness within a few

minutes. Since we did not have such great abilities, we

shone the powerful lantern on the strips of sand, but they

seemed untouched. The search was already becoming

somewhat frustrating near the spawning grounds, and the

sensation increased with every hundred meters. From

their canoes, the locals were also helping us, staring at

the sand, but with no apparent result. How was it

possible that an entire colony had only one spawning

spot? After hours of observing details in the sand, we

heard a loud call from the front of our boat — Etiename,

the tribal elder, was calling us urgently. The three of us

ran to see what it was all about; Keene aimed the beam

of light at the thick sand. On its surface, a faint, almost

296

imperceptible trail showed that a Leptocleidus had been

there, perhaps a long while before us. We certainly

would not have noticed the pattern even if we had used

the spotlight on it. Behind me, a faint light caught my

eye, distracting me from the discovery. Turning to

identify its source, I saw in the distance two porches lit

by fluorescent lights — we were back in the condo.

The nest we were illuminating had been

excavated just before we arrived in the area and was

about to be disturbed again. Under the light that shone

brightly on the sand, small movements began to take

place. With effort comparable only to chelonians, the

Leptocleidus hatchlings forced their way into the world,

moving the sand with their tiny paddle-like fins. Keene

then turned off the spotlight, so that the little animals

would not be confused and follow its glow, rather than

the reflected moonlight. In the darkness, we watched the

small shapes leave the newly dug hole and, in great

numbers, descend the banks to reach the river. The dark

bodies of the babies contrasted with the light sand,

allowing us to see even the details of the action. Soon,

the whole group, perhaps half a hundred animals, swam

in the Sazinge, but there were more hatching elsewhere

on the same beach, covering the sand with their dark

color. Despite the absence of predators, some were still

at risk as their siblings crawled over them, while others

had their own difficulties, being slower or not strong

enough to climb the nest wall, rolling and falling back

297

into the nest. Some natives were already beginning to

leave their canoes and come to the babies' aid, but

Keene shouted from the bow:

— No! Please, no! — Then, in isiXhosa, he

explained, still holding up his hands in supplication:

— These animals must one day return to spawn

on this beach, and if they are helped to reach the water,

they will lose the ability to locate themselves! You will

have saved one today...and killed thousands of potential

offspring later!

In silence, Etiename reviewed Jacob Keene's

advice and, with another call of command, dispersed

those who had come ashore. Back in their canoes, some

suffered in silence, watching the slow death of the

hatchlings that would not survive their first night, and

others even cried without making any noise. It was a

harsh reality, but if these animals were similar to sea

turtles in this sense as well, Keene's argument was valid.

On the other side of the spectrum, away from Keene's

cold science, was the sweet heart of those people who

could not stand the scene, but submitted to the old man.

Nevertheless, the scientist was reasonable, as the

following scene would show. While the reptiles formed a

conjoined mass going down the sluggish Sazinge River,

those closer to the other bank gradually drifted away

until they reached the land, and began to move in the

direction of what was guiding them now and what had

taken them off course earlier, beginning the whole

298

adventure we had in Hluleka. Their tiny eyes followed

the light always left on by the condominium engineer

and guided them to the same end that their fellows had

had before our arrival. But not this time. A loud gunshot

resounded on the plain, followed by the bursting of the

fluorescent light bulb. We all turned immediately to see

Keene holding Elya's pistol, now firing a second time.

The shot was precise, exploding the artificial light and

leaving the plain in darkness. With no rivalry, the natural

light was the only one, and the animals were back on the

path that would lead them to freedom.

Still with his gun raised and without taking his

eyes off the condo, Keene said aloud:

— We cannot save them from everything...and

we cannot nail their coffin.

Admittedly, the tribe did not view Keene as a

threat, as nothing flew at him. The mood, though,

remained high and our fellow expedition members kept a

look of surprise at Jacob's motionless figure. Finally, he

lowered the pistol and threw it into the door that led to

the berth; its metallic noise repeating itself until it met

the wooden floor.

— I have to get down here, Kevin, — he

announced, climbing down from the speedboat, as if to

escape the staring faces. — I have to call Frost, — he

explained. As soon as he was a few meters away, Lucy

said softly:

299

— Why would he want to talk to the man he

hates most in the world?

— Perhaps to announce the success of our action

in Hluleka; we have effectively saved the Leptocleidus

and the tribe will now take over.

— You know he would rub his money and

culture in your face, but not an ecological achievement

like that. No, there is something else going on and we

are going to find out.

— We? — I asked almost disconsolately, but

Lucy was already leaping to the ground, slowing her

pace to keep from making noise. There wasn't much I

could do to stop her, so I did the second best thing and

joined Lucy in her endeavor. I got off the boat and

imitated her sneaking around, leaving Etiename and his

men behind, who were now scattered on the beach,

counting eggs and taking advantage of Keene's absence

to help any hatchlings that might need it, perhaps

collecting some for food. Meanwhile, we were

approaching the party room where the biomedical doctor

had entered. The door remained open, limiting how close

we could get without being spotted, but reaching the

front wall was already enough, considering the volume

at which Jacob spoke. Holding the phone that until the

day before had belonged to Elya, he said:

— Yes, President, the operation was an immense

success and the species is officially protected. I think we

are already closer to your deadline, aren't we? I'm

300

looking forward to setting foot on Inaccessible Island.

Two days? Stupendous! I'll break the news to the little

ones; I'll see you soon, Mr. Frost.

— It seems that he was really just giving the

expedition report, — I whispered to Lucy.

— No, Kevin. Didn't you notice the forced tone

in Keene's voice? He knows we're here. It's much worse

than we thought.

I was visibly confused and I know she

appreciated every moment of my curiosity in asking the

meaning of her words, but I had finally become

frustrated with trying to understand the humanity

through Lucy's eyes and remained silent.

⬫⬫⬫

— They definitely don't know how to hide, —

Jacob Keene thought. — Don't they know that even the

faintest ray of moonlight reveals the presence of a nosy

teenager? — Before him, on the doorstep, stretched

Kevin O'Riley's shadow. But it made no difference; just

change a few words in the conversation and they would

never suspect anything. The contact at the other end of

the line was not nearly the smartest man he had ever met,

but he was the only one who had agreed to be part of his

plan. In the end, he would understand the message and

act promptly. Yes, the plan had been fulfilled perfectly.