Free Hunting Daylight (9781101619032) by Piper Maitland Page B

Hamilton headed toward the mess pavilion. The air was overheated, thick and impenetrable. Jude pursed his lips with each breath, as if he were sucking oxygen through a wet carpet. As he moved down the path, he noticed that the spotlights had not been repaired and trash lay in heaps. Some tents had been flattened.
    “What happened?” Jude said, tugging his hood over his head.
    “They ran,” Hamilton said. “A Swedish microbiologist and a primate expert.”
    “When?”
    “You slept through the commotion,” Hamilton said. “They got shot.”
    They stepped into the pavilion. Lenny stood up front with an armed Congolese soldier. “We’re rationing the blood,” he called. “You only get one pint a day. So make it last.”
    Tatiana walked up, her face streaked with water, her hair flat and dripping. “You guys need to come with me,” she said, pointing at Jude and Hamilton.
    “Where to?” Hamilton said.
    “I’ve got some equipment at the old camp,” she said, giving the men halogen lanterns. “I need you to help me bring it back.”
    She strode toward the
bai
, oblivious to the rain. A big-shouldered Congolese soldier walked behind her.
    “Old camp?” Hamilton said, turning to Jude. “How many are there?”
    “Maybe we should run for it now,” Jude said.
    “Bad idea.” Hamilton ducked his head, and rain cascaded off his thick, springy hair. “She’s packing a Glock. And her guard is armed. We could get killed.”
    They followed her across the wide clearing. Rain blew in visible sheets, the drops hitting Jude’s arms like pebbles. They hiked into the foothills of the Chaillu Massif and climbed onto a rocky plateau. Tatiana’s lantern moved ahead, a bright smudge in the downpour. She pointed to a dark cleft in the rocks. “There’s a cave over there,” she yelled. “Let’s get out of the rain.”
    “Great,” Hamilton muttered. “Caves and bats go together like cats and a shit box.”
    Tatiana grabbed a handful of vines and yanked them away from the cave’s opening, then crouched down and slipped through the V-shaped boulders. The soldiernudged Jude and Hamilton through the opening, then pushed in behind them. Cool, mineral-smelling air wafted over Jude.
    No guano
, he thought.
Maybe no bats, either.
    Tatiana stood in a small chamber, her light flashing on the walls. They were smooth and pink, scaled with blue algae. From the darkness came the sound of rushing water.
    Jude set down his halogen and pushed back his hood. Water pattered from his shirt, ticking against the ground. Hamilton and the soldier were soaked, too. Their clothes were streaked and dripping, giving off the smell of wet cotton.
    Tatiana walked to the opening of the cave. She stared out into the rain, then glanced at her watch and sighed.
    The Congolese soldier wandered toward the back of the chamber, his light shining on an underground stream. Jude picked up his lantern and walked to the edge of the water. Translucent fish huddled on the bottom, almost blending into the rocks. They were trout-sized, with spiny fins. The Congolese man dipped his hands into the water and splashed it over his face. The fish began to stir, swimming toward the man as he reached into the water again.
    Jude set down his lantern and hunkered down. He threw a pebble into the water. It sank at an angle, pushed along by the current, then finally hit bottom. The stream was deeper than it looked, maybe fifteen feet.
    The soldier bent closer to the surface and lowered his hand. A school of fish leaped up, their mouths glistening with teeth, and bit off his fingers. He screamed, his voice rising and falling, echoing in the chamber.
    Jude grabbed the man’s shoulders and tugged. Bloodjetted down into the water. More fish swam up, then leaped out of the stream, their jaws clicking. Three latched onto the soldier. He howled and began to flail, the fish dangling from his forearms, their bodies filling with color. One fish let go and snapped at Jude. He backed