The Bone Labyrinth Read online

  “Language skills are a good barometer for intelligence and ingenuity,” she explained, drawing back his focus. “And after decades of ape language research, we have a ready-made baseline against which we can compare Baako’s intellectual development.”

  She placed her palm on the window. “But more important, we’re talking about the conception of a unique soul, unlike any on this planet. So of course we would want a method of communication, a way to better understand such a creation.” She faced them all again. “Come and meet him and you’ll understand.”

  Maria led them toward a door and waved a keycard over an electronic lock.

  Kowalski reluctantly trailed the others, knowing he had little choice.

  Seems this is my place in Sigma—to be the guy who talks to apes.

  As he passed through the door, he found himself standing in a tall cage. Maria unlatched the barred door ahead of them, but only after the outer door had sealed and relocked, plainly a safety feature. Kowalski kept to the back of the group as they crossed into the makeshift classroom. The enclosed space was too hot and humid for his tastes, and though it didn’t smell like a barn, as he had expected, there was still a distinctly musky odor.

  Maria moved ahead of the group, holding out an arm. “Baako, come over and say hello.”

  The young gorilla straightened, standing on his two legs, but he stayed put, still wary.

  Kowalski eyed him in turn. Standing upright, the gorilla rose only as high as Kowalski’s stomach, but he still looked powerful. Curious, Kowalski searched that furry body for any evidence of the creature’s hybrid nature, but he didn’t know all that much about gorillas to recognize any real difference.

  “It’s okay,” Maria encouraged softly.

  Baako hesitated for a moment. Then with a soft hoot, he dropped to the knuckles of one arm and bounded over to her and took her hand.

  “That’s a good boy.” She turned to the group. “Best you let him come to you.”

  Amy Wu lowered to a knee. “Hey, Baako, do you remember me? We use to play tickling games.”

  The gorilla half hid behind Maria’s legs.

  “It’s been over six months since you were last here,” Maria said, placing a palm atop the gorilla’s head. “I doubt he remembers.”

  Baako made another soft grunt, almost as if disagreeing. He let go of his caretaker’s hand and lifted both arms toward his ribs and wiggled his fingers. It didn’t take someone fluent in sign language to interpret this gesture.

  [Tickle]

  Amy laughed. “That’s right!”

  Baako came forward, his head and shoulders bowed shyly. He crossed to the scientist and gave her a one-armed hug. Amy proceeded to tickle him under the ribs, earning a brief chuffing that sounded like hoarse laughter. But even to Kowalski, it was like the guy was going through the motions, patronizing the scientist’s efforts. Especially as Baako’s gaze never left the two men in the room.

  Monk tried next. “How about a little love this way?” he asked, also dropping to one knee and holding out both arms.

  Baako grunted, looking ill at ease.

  “He’s a nice man,” Maria said, signing her assurance by sliding her right palm over her left.

  [Nice]

  “Say hello,” she encouraged.

  Baako came forward, plainly reluctant, but from the pinch of his eyes, he was also curious. He sniffed the air as he approached. Once near enough, he motioned with his right hand, waving from his brow.

  [Hello]

  He then cupped his hand before his chest and swept it down. Then his fingers flashed through various letters.

  [I am Baako]

  Those dark eyes stared up at Monk, who looked bewildered.

  Kowalski nudged his partner. “The guy’s telling you his name.”

  Maria glanced to Kowalski, her eyebrows lifting. “You’re right.”

  Kowalski pointed to Monk, then spelled his partner’s name.

  [His name is Monk]

  Baako bobbed his head, clearly understanding, and closed the distance. He took Monk’s hand in his own, squeezing it. Then he leaned over and sniffed his partner’s other hand, cocking his head and hooting quietly.

  “It’s a prosthetic,” Monk explained both to Baako and to Maria, who came over.

  “Really,” Maria said. “I couldn’t tell.”

  Kowalski was not surprised. The prosthetic hand was an amazing bit of hardware, and not just due to its lifelike match. It had been engineered by DARPA to function with amazing dexterity, and this was the latest model, built to respond to a neural implant in Monk’s brain, allowing him to control his artificial hand not only via the titanium contacts that linked the nerves in his wrist to the prosthesis, but also by his very thoughts.

  Monk demonstrated another unique feature of his new hand. He reached over and detached the prosthesis from his wrist, freeing it from the metal cuff wired to the stump of his arm. He let Baako hold the hand.

  The gorilla flipped it over and examined it from every angle. Monk was even able to wiggle those fingers, the motion achieved via a wireless command. Baako’s brows climbed higher at this demonstration. Even Maria gasped slightly at the sight. Baako lifted the prosthesis to his mouth and gently bit at one of the fingers.

  Kowalski cringed, doubting the DARPA engineers would appreciate such abuse to their technological marvel. Monk must have felt the same way and stepped forward.

  Maria held him back, eyeing Baako with amusement. “Don’t worry,” she explained. “He’s only trying to tickle you. It’s the way gorillas sometimes do that, by biting softly at fingers or bellies.”

  Monk laughed—but it was less because of the tickling and more likely amazement. “I can actually feel what he’s trying to do.”

  “Amazing.” Maria pinched her eyes and stared anew at the prosthesis. “I had read that DARPA was testing artificial limbs with sensory inputs, but I never imagined they were so far along.”

  Monk shrugged. “Just consider me one of DARPA’s guinea pigs.”

  Finally Baako offered the hand back.

  Monk accepted it. “Thanks, little guy.”

  The gorilla turned to the last member of the party and eyed both of Kowalski’s arms.

  Kowalski raised his hands. “Don’t get any ideas. These are both real.” He finished by clamping the fingers of one hand over the other.

  [No biting]

  Baako chuffed loudly, followed by an offended grunt of protest.

  Maria smiled, her eyes twinkling toward Kowalski. “You sign well. I’m impressed.”

  Feeling awkward at her attention, he spiraled two fingers in the air and landed them on the back of his other hand.

  [Of course I do]

  Baako was less awed. The gorilla refused to draw closer and dropped heavily to his haunches. He then flicked his fingers in Kowalski’s direction, then pointed at him.

  [Don’t like you]

  Kowalski scowled back at the ape.

  Feeling’s mutual, bud.

  11:48 A.M.

  Baako sees how the man stands, smells the sourness to his body, reads the small tics of disdain on his face. He knows the man does not like him and doesn’t understand why. Confusion leads to hurt—also to anger.

  His mother comes over, her lips hard, ready to scold. She gestures.

  [He is nice man, too]

  Baako doesn’t know how to explain, to argue, so he crosses his arms, refusing to talk.

  Man doesn’t like me, so I don’t like him.

  Plus his mother had praised the way this man talked with his hands. He saw how she smiled at him. She should only like the way Baako talks.

  Not this man.

  She points to the door at the back and motions firmly. “Go to your room, Baako.”

  He grunts, voicing some of his hurt and frustration.

  She points her two fingers again to his bedroom door.

  [Go]

  He huffs and obeys, pushing up. He heads away, walking on both arms, burning
with chagrin. Before he leaves the room, he casts one last glare in the man’s direction. He doesn’t sign it, but he thinks it.

  You go away.

  11:49 A.M.

  “He’s tired,” Maria explained, hoping she hadn’t been too hard on the little guy, but firmness was necessary at times.

  “Don’t worry,” Monk said with a grin. “Kowalski has that effect on a lot of people. It takes time for him to grow on you.”

  His partner frowned but didn’t protest otherwise.

  Maria felt sorry and tried to reassure the big fellow. “Baako didn’t sleep well last night. He had some nightmares about Lena.”

  Amy stepped closer. “Is that right?”

  Maria heard the interest in her voice and tried to dissuade it. “It was just a coincidence.” She glanced away. She certainly wasn’t going to talk about waking with similar misgivings about her sister.

  “Speaking of Lena,” Monk said, “what exactly was your sister doing in Europe?”

  Maria was happy to turn the discussion in this direction. “We were granted a fellowship by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. It’s the predominant research institute when it comes to hominin studies. The fellowship allowed for one of us to work in a program whose goal was to build a more accurate model of genetic variability in the Neanderthal species, along with developing new retrieval methods for collecting DNA from old bone fossils.”

  “And why did Lena end up going instead of you?” Monk asked.

  “While we both have an interest in genetics, my research leans more toward a macro understanding of DNA. The end results, you might say. Whereas Lena concentrated at the micro level, fixing her studies on gene-editing and -splicing. So it seemed more important that she take on this German fellowship.”

  Stabbed by guilt, Maria hugged her arms around herself, regretting that decision now. Here she was safely in the States while Lena faced who knew what dangers out there.

  “We thought this fellowship was important,” she continued. “I can count on one hand the number of Neanderthal fossils that offer decent recoverable DNA. Good sources are few and far between. With better samples, more accurate collection techniques, and a comprehensive understanding of the variability of genes among the different Neanderthal tribes, Lena and I hoped to discern what made the Neanderthal species unique from us and how a hybridization of those traits could have helped trigger the Great Leap Forward. There was so much to gain.”

  She pictured Lena’s face.

  And now so much to lose.

  “Do you know who she’s working with over there?” Monk asked.

  She gave a shake of her head. “There was a whole team. I have their names on my computer upstairs, but they’re all experts in various fields, studying other hominins who contributed to our genome.”

  Kowalski cleared his throat. “So we have more than just Neanderthal genes in us?”

  She nodded. “That’s right. Another hominin species, the Denisovans, were contemporaries of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. They also interbred with us, leaving behind their genes in our gene pool.”

  Kowalski grunted. “Sounds like that pool was getting pretty damn polluted.”

  “On the contrary, those Denisovan genes helped our species survive. For example, the gene EPAS1 activates when oxygen levels are low in the atmosphere to produce more hemoglobin. A variant of this gene is found in the Tibetan people and allows them to survive at extreme altitudes, where oxygen is extremely low, like high in the Himalayas. Data shows this variant came from the Denisovans.”

  “So is that everybody?” Kowalski asked, scoffing a bit. “Or were there other cavemen who joined this prehistoric orgy?”

  Maria glanced to Amy. She knew this question was of particular interest to her friend.

  Amy spoke up. “Genetic analysis of bone fossils from both Neanderthals and Denisovans suggest there was a third species who also interbred with us, a hominin who so far remains unknown and, as of yet, undiscovered and unclassified.”

  “Proving yet again,” Maria added, “that if it weren’t for those matings, we wouldn’t be who we are today. All of this supports our theory of hybrid vigor and that the interbreeding of man and hominin species gave us the genetic variability to allow us to spread across Europe and eventually around the world. These borrowed genes were what allowed our species to survive to the modern day.”

  “And that’s what you’re studying with Baako,” Monk asked. “Analyzing those unique traits that might have contributed to the Great Leap Forward.”

  “Exactly. And while Baako is still young, we’ve already noted some remarkable progress in his cognitive abilities. He’s learning at a rate threefold faster than any ape studied in the past. And the anatomy of his brain is also significantly different, showing an increase in surface folding of the cortex and a larger volume of gray matter making up his cerebrum, all of which we’ve documented through a series of MRIs.”

  “I wouldn’t mind seeing those,” Monk admitted. “It sounds fascinating.”

  “They’re filed on my office computer. I can show you where—”

  A whimpering cut her off. The noise was quiet, easily dismissed, but with a mother’s keen sense of a child in distress, she stopped and turned toward the neighboring bedroom. Baako hunched in the shadows of the threshold and circled his chest with his fist.

  [I’m sorry . . . ]

  Amy touched her arm. “I can take the others over to your office and help them review the pertinent reports. In the meantime, it looks like someone is trying to make amends.”

  Maria’s heart ached at seeing Baako so wounded and distressed.

  “And I need to report in with D.C., too,” Monk added, stepping away. “Hopefully I’ll also have an update from Croatia for you shortly.”

  “Thank you.”

  Monk pointed to his partner. “I’ll leave this big guy with you. Something tells me he’s part of the problem here and may be part of the solution.”

  “What did I do?” Kowalski asked.

  Monk ignored him. “Once we’re done in your office, I’ll phone Kowalski and let you know.”

  Maria nodded. She suspected all of this was an excuse for Amy and Monk to compare notes with a measure of privacy. She glanced at Kowalski as the other two left. Apparently this one’s contribution regarding scientific matters was not wanted. They were leaving him to babysit her instead.

  She wasn’t sure who should be the more offended.

  Still, she was too tired to protest, and she wanted to soothe Baako anyway. But before she headed over to him, she pulled out her cell phone and hit redial. She called up the last number—Lena’s number—and waited for the connection to be made. She expected the usual discordant beep, followed by an automated voice telling her the call failed.

  Instead, a shiver of static screeched, then died away into a voice.

  “—ria!” The answer was both frantic and shocked. “Can you hear—?”

  Those words cut off as the connection dropped again. A CALL FAILED message flared on the screen.

  Still, Maria yelled into the phone. “Lena!”

  7

  April 29, 6:04 P.M. CEST

  Karlovac County, Croatia

  No, no, no . . .

  Lena clutched her phone and tried to reconnect the call. She breathed hard as attempt after attempt failed. Gerard and Roland stared at her. Roland had tried his phone, but he had no better luck.

  “It was her,” Lena swore. “My sister.”

  The trio stood vigil on a shelf of rock overlooking a subterranean lake that filled a massive cavern before them. It stretched at least a hundred yards across and twice as long. To the far right, a large river roared in from a tunnel, flowing heavily into the lake, slowly flooding the place. The reason it hadn’t already completely flooded lay to the left. There, the black surface of the lake churned with a large whirlpool, marking the cavern’s drainage point. She pictured that water flowing into the deeper leve
ls of this system, washing everything into the roots of these mountains.

  And we may be next.

  “That must be the River Dobra,” Roland said, studying the thunderous flow of water. “The river runs into the village of Ogulin, then vanishes underground at Đula’s Abyss.”

  “Father Novak must be right,” Gerard said. “We must be near that gorge if your phone got signal, even for a moment.”

  Lena lowered her cell, giving up. “We’re so close.”

  She stared toward the fierce deluge.

  Yet so far.

  “If only we could swim against that current . . .” Roland said.

  No one bothered to entertain this hope. If they jumped in, they’d be sucked down that whirlpool before they even got near the headwaters of that river.

  Tears of frustration welled, blurring her sight. She swiped angrily at her eyes, refusing to accept defeat. Then water splashed over the toes of her boots. She looked down. The lake had risen to the height of their rocky perch.

  Gerard pointed behind them. “We’ll have to go back.”

  “To where?” Roland asked, sounding forlorn. “The caverns are flooding just as much behind us.”

  “There must be higher ground somewhere,” the French soldier said firmly. “Somewhere we can wait out this storm.”

  No one argued, but they all knew such a plan was futile.

  Lena lifted her phone and hugged it to her chest, wishing she could regain that connection. Not that she held out any hope that reaching Maria would save her.

  But at least I’d get to say good-bye.

  6:11 P.M.

  From the bottom of the deep gorge, Gray looked up at the stone battlements of Frankopan Castle far above. Rain splashed in his face while lightning forked along the bottom of the black storm clouds.

  Gray concentrated closer at hand. A rope hung from a balcony that protruded over the cliff at street level. He watched the thin, muscular form of Fredrik Horvat slide down the line on a rappelling harness. The mountaineer quickly landed beside him on a rocky bank of the flooded river. Behind them, a steel U-shaped dock protruded into the water, sheltering a Zodiac pontoon boat.