Yeti Unleashed Page 10

  “Okay, folks,” he began, “this is what we have. Correct me if I don’t have it right.” He paused, waited for a few nods, then continued. “The research assistant, Winkleman, who apparently delighted in tormenting the beast he was assigned to watch and care for, opened its cage and entered it. The beast--”

  Harry eyed Calder with narrow eyes. “Sheriff, the beast to whom you refer is a Yeti, a humanoid species found in Mongolia.”

  “Yes, excuse me, Doctor. As I was saying, the Yeti attacked Winkleman, and the pair apparently fought for a while, eventually reaching the area outside the cage. This Yeti killed Winkleman. He then escaped the unit with the female Yeti. How she was able to get out of her cage is unknown at this time. I have sent my undersheriff out with your security chief and a number of your employees to search the grounds for these animals.”

  “Sheriff, may I say something?” Millie said. She had raised her hand and looked about the table with wide eyes.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Sir, if none of the science staff unlocked the cage, and certainly there would be no reason for them to do so, then we have to assume that Bentu unlocked Sasha’s cage himself.”

  “Why do you say that?” Calder said.

  “It stands to reason. If--”

  “You said yourself that you had fled the unit,” Calder interrupted. “You didn’t actually observe him releasing the other Yeti, correct?”

  Millie ran a hand through her hair and squirmed in her seat. “That is right. But, sir, these animals are highly intelligent. They learn with incredible speed. Each of them spent the better part of a year watching everything that went on in the Animal Care Unit. They observed our coming and going. They watched as we went about our daily routine. I’m sure they saw and learned how we opened their cages.”

  “Dixie and I can certainly attest to their intelligence,” Harry said, looking around the table at each person. “We observed how smart they are, up close, back in Mongolia. As a group they were able to strategize and mount a coordinated attack.”

  “And they lived in small family-like units, seemingly caring for each other,” Dixie added.

  “All right,” Calder said, nodding, “I’ll give you that these Yeti are intelligent beyond belief and that the murdering male opened the female’s cage. If you rule out the Winkleman kid opening the other cage, it’s the best explanation we have. The point is that the two of them escaped to parts unknown. Hopefully, they are hiding somewhere on the compound and we’ll soon find them. Your veterinarian...”

  “Siscom, right here,” Dr. Siscom said, raising his hand.

  “Yes, Doctor. Are you ready and able to tranquilize these animals when we locate them?”

  “Absolutely. I’ve got plenty of tranquilizer darts on hand. I don’t miss, either.”

  “Great, and thank you.”

  “Sheriff,” Radner said, “how soon can we move the body and get the unit cleaned up?”

  “Well, the Elko County Coroner is on his way so as soon as he gives you the thumbs up you’ll be free to do so. My office will take care of notifying the young man’s next of kin later this evening. So for now, we just sit back and wait for these animals to be found. Surely, they couldn’t have gone far.”

  Siscom stood. “I’ll get the tranquilizers ready.” He left with Millie right behind him.

  Calder watched the veterinarian leave the conference room and wondered about the place in which he found himself. The Primate Research Facility was as foreign to him as China, which said something, for he had never been outside the state of Nevada, except once when he went deep-sea fishing off the coast of San Diego. The scientific people spoke a language different than anything he ever heard. The place seemed more like a hospital than what he thought a research facility should look like. Having never progressed beyond high school, he felt out of place amidst all the educated people at the facility. It was always a source of embarrassment when he found himself talking to a more educated person, causing him his mouth to become dry and his bowels to loosen.

  Suddenly, Millie burst into the room and everyone’s heads jerked toward the door.

  “What is it?” Calder said, his voice rising.

  “They’re gone,” Millie said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “The Yeti. They’re not on the compound.”

  Chapter 10

  Bruce Drayton and Undersheriff Andy Hardin led a number of the research facility’s workers on a search of the compound. Once they cleared the main building and dormitory, they searched the rest of the outbuildings. Drayton stopped at his office, grabbed his 30-30 rifle, and slung it over his shoulder. The undersheriff had his nine-millimeter Heckler and Koch pistol holstered on his hip but, from what Calder said, he knew it wouldn’t stop these animals. Drayton checked his walkie-talkie, made sure the frequency was the same as the veterinarian’s, and began the search.

  Slogging along under a high hot sun, his leg ached, accentuating his limp, while the workers fanned out behind him and Hardin. Drayton was a recent addition to the Primate Research Facility, only coming on board less than a year ago.

  Radner had seemed pleased with his credentials, being an ex-cop and all, but he always felt the director looked over his shoulder, watching everything in the facility, making mental notes.

  Now this business with the assistant’s killing and the Yeti getting loose was enough to make Drayton even more paranoid where Radner was concerned.

  “What tribe are you?” he asked Hardin as they continued searching the buildings under a sweltering sun.

  “Paiute,” replied Hardin, not looking at Drayton.

  “Paiute, eh? Been in this area very long, Andy?”

  “My mother was descended from Chief Truckee.”

  “Who was that?” said Drayton after the pair looked in the building that housed the generator and found nothing.

  “He was Big Chief over all Paiutes in Western Nevada at the time of the arrival of the first white man. Chief Truckee was the father of Chief Winnemucca and the Truckee River and the town of Truckee were named for him.”

  “I see,” Drayton said. I have heard of the Pyramid Lake War. It’s about the only Paiute history I know.”

  “Yes. In 1860, the war was a series of two battles between the Paiute and the white settlers. The settlers came to the area in search of gold and silver and, in their search, destroying the Indians’ valuable natural resources. This created a great deal of tension among the Paiutes.

  “The Paiutes reached their breaking point when two Paiute girls were kidnapped by white settlers. It sparked the most intense battle in Nevada’s history, and the initial battle left several white traders dead and seventy-five members of the militia dead. In retaliation, the white militia attacked several weeks later and a great number of Paiute Indians died as a result. A treaty was signed to end the fighting a few months later.”

  “You sure know your history, Andy,” Drayton said, slapping the man on his back.

  Hardin smiled. “Yes,” he said. “I am a good Indian.”

  The men laughed and continued their search. When all the outbuildings had been searched and deemed clear of the Yeti, Drayton turned the workers loose, and he and Hardin headed back to the main building.

  In the lobby he saw Millie, told her that the Yeti were nowhere to be found, and watched her run to tell Radner and the others.

  ***

  The conference erupted with the participants all chattering at once, shouting over one another. Harry raised his voice and rapped his knuckles on the table.

  “Please, everyone,” he shouted, trying to get their attention. “Please, everybody return to your seats. Let’s have some order so we can discuss this calmly and objectively.”

  Dr. Siscom and Bruce Drayton entered and took a seat at the conference table along with Dr. Radner, Millie Harbaum, and Dixie. Radner lit a cigarette and toyed with his lighter while the talking gradually subsided.

  “Where is the Sheriff?” Dixie asked.

  “He and his un
dersheriff are out on the mountain organizing a search party,” Radner said. “I believe they intend to begin searching the mountain.”

  “All right,” Harry continued, “let’s try and get to the bottom of what happened here. Mainly, how did the female Yeti, Sasha--I believe she was called--how did she get out of her cage? Millie believes Bentu let her out. Any other ideas?”

  “The most obvious answer to that question,” Drayton said, panting, still out of breath from hurrying to the meeting, “is that, if it wasn’t the male Yeti, then someone unlocked the damned thing.”

  “Who might do such a thing?” Dixie said, her voice showing surprise at the security chief’s suggestion.

  “Either someone who had a grudge against the facility or some animal rights psycho,” Drayton replied.

  “I can speak to that,” Radner said. “We screen and vet our employees with meticulous care. Use a microscope, as it were, and go over every minute detail of their background check.”

  “What are you saying?” Harry said.

  “Dr. Olson, you know what lengths we go to ensure quality people work here, including the scientific staff. So I doubt if any of our facility’s staff had anything to do with the Yeti’s escape. I would be willing to stake my reputation on it.”

  “Yes, yes, Dr. Radner,” Harry said. “I tend to agree with you. But I have seen the animal rights demonstrations near the campus.”

  “So, if none of the staff unlocked the cage how did it get opened?” Dr. Siscom drummed a pencil on the table while he spoke.

  “Someone from the outside?” Dixie said.

  “Nope, not possible,” Drayton said. “Security here is tight as a drum. Never could happen.”

  “Someone couldn’t have sneaked in without being seen? One of the demonstrators perhaps?” Dixie pursued her train of thought.

  “Highly unlikely. A tall fence secures the perimeter and is monitored with video surveillance. If someone entered by another way, other than the front gate, I would know it.”

  Siscom raised his hand. “It still begs my question. If no person unlocked the cage, how did it get opened?”

  Millie raised her hand and cleared her throat. “Excuse me, everyone. I realize I’m just a graduate assistant here, but I have worked with these animals for nearly a year.”

  “No, Millie, you’re fine,” Harry said. “Please tell us what you think.”

  “It’s like I said earlier.” Millie toyed nervously with the lapel of her lab coat. Her eyes darted around the table. “These Yeti are extremely smart. Their intelligence far exceeds what we have thought previously. I should know, I work with them every day. In fact, I was about to suggest some experiments to measure their intelligence when today happened. These...” She stopped, as if unsure if she should proceed.

  “Please, Millie,” Dixie said, smiling at her. “Go ahead, finish what you want to say. We’re here to listen.”

  Millie rubbed her hands together. “Well, these Yeti have watched us every day open and close their cages. In fact, they watched our every movement in the Animal Care Unit, especially Bentu, the male. In my opinion, these Yeti have the intelligence to learn and duplicate what they saw day after day. When Bentu escaped from his cage, I believe he unlocked Sasha’s cage, and the two of them found their way out of the unit.”

  More chattering, raised voices.

  “I don’t believe it,” Radner said. “These are animals for Christ’s sake. Some kind of ape relation. No way they could learn such a maneuver. And even if they could duplicate something like Pavlov’s dogs, I seriously doubt they have the reasoning ability to figure it out and know what escaping meant.”

  “On the contrary,” Dixie interjected. She spoke directly to Radner. “I can personally attest to these animal’s reasoning ability. They have cunning, possess the ability to strategize and carry out a plan of action. No, Dr. Radner, you are mistaken. ”

  Radner sat back in his chair, without a response to Dixie’s remarks.

  “All right,” Harry said. “We’ve known for a long time that chimps can learn simple tasks. Our animals have escaped the compound. We know they are dangerous. And we need to find and subdue them as soon as possible. Chief Drayton and I will coordinate search activities with Sheriff Calder. I hope he has already begun a search of Cinder Mountain.”

  ***

  Harry ventured outside and noticed the Blackhawk helicopter that had brought him and Dixie to the facility was no longer on the compound. Instead, a Tri-County Law Enforcement helicopter occupied the spot where the Blackhawk previously sat. Sheriff Calder and Undersheriff Hardin were standing next to the aircraft, talking to a man Harry surmised was the pilot. The sun was still high in the sky, beating down with its usual ferocity, and glinted off the chopper’s rotors. Harry wiped beads of perspiration from his forehead and neck.

  When he approached the pair, Hardin turned and acknowledged his approach by a small wave. “Dr. Olson,” he said, “this is our pilot, and we will begin an air search of the area shortly.”

  Harry extended his hand and the men shook hands. The pilot’s grip was firm.

  “Thanks for your help,” Harry said. “Sorry to get you out on such a flight as this.”

  The man didn’t say anything but nodded. Calder took Harry by an arm and led him a safe distance from the helicopter. They watched the pilot climb aboard and the jet engine started to whine. Finally, the rotors started turning and, soon, the chopper was airborne, banking hard to the south. When it was out of sight, the two men stood in the shade under the portico of the main building. The air temperature dropped ten degrees out of the sun.

  “So, Sheriff, what do we do now? Just wait? I don’t think I can just sit around here waiting for that pilot to report back.”

  “I’ve ordered two deputies to bring a trailer and a number of horses up here,” Calder said. “I plan to begin searching from horseback as soon as they arrive.”

  “When will that be?”

  “They should be here sometime this evening. We’ll start out at first light in the morning.”

  “I want to participate,” Harry said. “And I know my wife will want to as well.”

  Calder shook his head. “I don’t know about having a woman along,” he said. “I can’t be responsible for her safety.”

  “I assure you, Sheriff, Dixie is as tough as anyone I’ve ever known. She proved that in Mongolia. Trust me.”

  “Well, we’ll see, Doctor. In the meantime, I want to check on the coroner. He should be finishing up.”

  Inside, they found the doctor sitting in a chair writing on a legal pad. He looked up when Calder walked up to him.

  “Ah, Sheriff Calder,” he said. “All done. The body can be removed now. I just finished my notes.”

  Harry noticed various sketches of the body with a number of labels attached to them. “Doctor,” Harry said. “I’m Dr. Olson, in charge of this research facility. What can you tell us? Anything?”

  The balding gray-haired man cleared his throat and looked at Harry with steel gray eyes.

  “Not much, I’m afraid. The man’s skull was crushed, which was the immediate cause of death. My tentative opinion is that death was instantaneous. All four limbs were broken in several places, with the right femoral artery completely severed. That accounted for the large amount of blood at the scene. Finally, multiple bruises and abrasions, most reflecting defensive wounds.” He shook his head and put his pen into a shirt pocket. “Quite a brutal killing, actually. One of the worst I’ve seen in forty years. Who was the young man?”

  “A graduate research assistant here,” Harry said. “Simply a tragedy, a huge tragedy.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Calder said. “Well, I need to inform the boy’s next of kin. Where can I use the telephone?”

  “Dr. Radner’s office,” Harry said. “I’m sure he won’t mind. This way.”

  The two men walked through the lobby and down a hallway, leaving the coroner to find his own way off the mountain. On his way to find D
ixie, Harry found the picture of Jimmy’s crumpled and bloody body rattling around his brain, causing his mind to do somersaults. He didn’t know Jimmy but had interviewed him for the position he came to occupy at the facility. If Millie’s assessment of him was accurate, Harry didn’t know him at all. He remembered the power and ferocity of a Yeti attack from his two expeditions to Mongolia when he observed them firsthand. If they weren’t able to locate the Yeti soon, the massive creatures would wreak havoc on an unsuspecting public. Widespread panic would ensue.

  Chapter 11

  A contingent of four-wheel-drive vehicles sat perched along a small tributary of the Taber River nestled in a shallow canyon of Mule Valley. A rising sun was low on the distant horizon, and it cast long shadows over the dark waters of the nearby stream. A pale orange hue filled the eastern sky and blackbirds chirped in the pines.

  Rupert Lowell paced along the shoreline, his boots crunching on the uneven surface. He held an insulated mug of coffee in one hand and a portable GPS receiver in the other. On a nearby rock sat Nash Yarak, sipping coffee while studying his boss. They had been in the mountains for over a week, searching for the Lost Coyote Creek Mine without the slightest hint of success. With them were two of Lowell’s most trusted subordinates, men who had been with them on the past few expeditions and had proven their valor and loyalty. Garby and Terkel were two men that Yarak had found working the railroad line in California. Lowell had checked and rechecked their backgrounds before hiring them. The men were loyal to a fault and followed orders without complaints, a fact that elevated their positions in Lowell’s estimation.

  The group used Lowell’s faded map, in an attempt to locate the mine, but the landmarks didn’t line up with the ones scribbled on the faded paper. Once, during the previous week, Lowell thought they were on the right track. They had followed a line of quartz outcroppings into a dead-end gorge but the rock never amounted to anything, ending in a tall bluff of limestone.