The Sixth Extinction by d leonard freeston

Author:d leonard freeston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Published: 2011-07-29T00:00:00+00:00

The boreal forest. September 7, 2006. Reg McDuff and Victor Tarasenko were set down exactly where Conrad and Chinua had spied the wounded black bear. Given that the spot was densely forested, the helicopter had to hover just above the treetops while everything, including the two men, their dogs, and their gear, was lowered by rope.

“I feel like a goddamn worm on a fishing line,” grumbled McDuff. “At least we’re getting daylight now. That’ll take away much of the lion’s advantage.”

“Tell me something else along those lines, and maybe I’ll stop shitting my pants.”

“It’s been two days since he fed on that moose. Lions really only need a big meal once a week.”

“And tell me that lions aren’t man-eaters.”

“Sorry, no can do. Especially lions from the Tsavo, like this one. When the Kenyans were building their rail line, a pair of them were tossing back Indian migrant workers like they were Cheetos.”

Victor Tarasenko laughed nervously. McDuff laughed raucously, for he’d never encountered a gruesome tale he didn’t like.

“Shhh! He might be close by.”

“Stupid,” grunted the burly redhead, whacking the younger man on the back of the head with his cap. “The bear was moving north, and for God knows how long. So what we gotta do is head south to pick up Simba’s trail.”

“So how do we know the lion isn’t heading north, straight toward us?”

“Then we’ll have found him, won’t we? Mission accomplished. But everything we know about him says he’ll be headed south or southeast. Hmm, that’s pretty much the direction of Africa, isn’t it?”

After consulting his GPS unit, McDuff found a bloody smear on a tree trunk, pressed his dogs’ noses to it, persuaded them by whipping that it was in their interest to follow the bear’s trail even though it grew progressively fainter rather than stronger, and set off after them at a quick march. “Okay, Victor, look lively! Lions like to pick off the stragglers!”

It wasn’t long before they came upon the bear’s cave. McDuff immediately divined what had transpired, and he produced the wood shavings from I-árishóni’s pen at the facility. The dogs went wild with excitement and set off in an easterly direction. After an hour of struggling to keep up with the dogs in the dense underbrush, they came upon the clearing where the remains of Vincent de Groot and Charmaine Washington lay. While Victor Tarasenko was vomiting in the bushes, McDuff studied the corpses admiringly. They’d each taken a single shot bang-on between the eyes. Somebody firing at point-blank rage couldn’t have done better. It had not been made clear to him who was responsible for this carnage, but he had a good idea. There was only one man he knew of who was capable of such perfection.

He released the dogs and they followed them eastward, at a safe distance. “Tell me, Victor. I’ve only known you a little while but I’ve already figured you as a complete weenie. And not much of a tracker, either. I’ll bet you didn’t even notice the cat’s paw prints in the dust by de Groot and Washington.

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