“Oh, that’s great!” Melanie said derisively. “You’re giving up already! If that’s the case, how do you intend to find out whether you and I have created a race of protohumans? I mean, you’re the one who’s raised this issue and got us all upset.”

Melanie and Candace stared at Kevin across the table. For a few minutes, no one said a word. The night sounds of the jungle drifted in, which until then no one had heard.

After feeling progressively uncomfortable, Kevin finally broke the silence. “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” he said. “I’ll think of something.”

“Like hell you will,” Melanie said. “You already said the only way to find out what those animals are doing is to visit the island. Those were your words. Have you forgotten?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Kevin said. “It’s just that… well…”

“That’s okay,” Melanie said condescendingly. “If you’re too chicken to go and find out what you might have done with your genetic tinkering, fine. We were counting on you coming to help run the motor in the pirogue, but that’s okay. Candace and I can manage. Right, Candace?”

“Right,” Candace said.

“You see we’ve planned this out pretty carefully,” Melanie said. “Not only did we rent the large, motorized canoe, but we had them bring back a smaller, paddle version as well. We plan to tow the paddle boat. Once we get to the island, we’ll paddle up the Rio Diviso. Maybe we won’t even have to go on land at all. All we want to do is observe the animals for a while.”

Kevin nodded. He looked back and forth between the two women who were relentlessly staring at him. Acutely uncomfortable, he scraped back his chair and started from the room.

“Where are you going?” Melanie asked.

“To get more wine,” Kevin said.

With strange emotion akin to anger, Kevin got a third bottle of white Burgundy, opened it, and brought it back into the dining room. He gestured with it toward Melanie and she nodded. Kevin filled her glass. He did the same to Candace. Then he filled his own.

After taking his seat, Kevin took a healthy swig of wine. He coughed a little after swallowing, and then asked when they planned on going on their great expedition.

“Tomorrow, bright and early,” Melanie said. “We figure it will take a little over an hour to get to the island, and we’d like to be back before the sun gets really strong.”

“We already got food and drink from the commissary,” Candace said. “And I got a portable cooler from the hospital to pack it in.”

“We’ll stay far away from the bridge and the staging area,” Melanie said. “So that won’t be a problem.”

“I think it’s going to be kind of fun,” Candace said. “I’d love to see a hippopotamus.”

Kevin took another gulp of wine.

“I suppose you don’t mind if we take those electronic gizmos to locate the animals,” Melanie said. “And we could use the contour map. Of course, we’ll be careful with them.”