About noon, the supply ship Tarragon, somewhere in the Pacific, Monday the 12th of April, 2055.

It's midday, but we can't see the sun as the tropical storm is in full swing. For some reason Yuki launches into a startlingly bad rendition of 'The Good Ship Lollipop'. It looks like it's about to get worse when Crash goes to join in, but fortunately he's overcome with the urge to dump some more 'chum' over the side.

We head on through the storm for another couple of hours until we reach our island destination. We had intended to fly ashore in the AV-4 but the storm makes that unwise. Instead we elect to use the ship's launch and load ourselves, our belongings and some replacement radio equipment for the research station aboard.

We can barely make the island out through the driving rain, but we can see well enough to head in the right direction at least. It's a good job Crash is sat in the back corner of the launch, as it's being tossed around by the sea a great deal more than the Tarragon was. We cross a reef and the sea calms dramatically as we enter the island's lagoon.

A pontoon appears out of the murk, jutting out from a beach of black volcanic sand. Mooring alongside we unload the launch and then quickly head up the beach to the tree line with our belongings and the equipment, in case there's a sudden storm surge. A path leads from the back of the beach to a white building just a short way beyond the first trees. Its doors and windows are shuttered tight against the storm. A quick check of the time shows it's already four in the afternoon, but there's still no sign of the sun, although the storm does seem to be weakening slowly.

Shen and Roland head off towards the building to check for signs of life. The rest of us follow a short distance behind. Shen slowly opens the single door and steps inside. Roland follows him.

Inside, a single unadorned light bulb, gently swinging in the draught from the door, lights the room. A woman sat at a desk looks up startled. "Who are you?" she asks. "We've brought a new radio", says Shen by way of a reply. We quickly introduce ourselves and she tells us her name is Christene Farrell.

We enquire about the state of the research station. She says that everyone is okay and besides a few power problems that have left her without any milk for her tea, everything is fine. She asks us how long we expect to be staying and Shen blathers on for a while. His blathering can be summed up as "Dunno really. A couple of weeks maybe".

She explains that this is just a small 'outpost' and that the main research facility is about half a mile further inland. It's easy to find, just follow the path. So that's what we do. The path takes a slightly windy route up through the trees.

About two thirds of the way up, we see something on the path ahead. In the rain and under the dark stormy skies it could be anything. It looks vaguely like a small pile of clothes dumped on the path and left out in the storm. As we approach we can see it's actually a chimpanzee laying face down, apparently dead.

Roland, reluctant to touch it, flips it over with his boot. Yes, it's definitely dead and it has a rather disturbing grimace upon its face. Yuki gets out a (very) large bin liner from her pack for use as a body bag. We put the chimp into the bag and then take it with us the rest of the way. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I thought I saw Yuki take a small blood sample from the chimp just before we bagged it up.

Another few minutes and we can see the complex ahead beyond the trees. Roland, who's up front, says he spots some movement ahead that darts off into the trees on the left, but no one else sees anything.

As we breach the tree line we can see a large fenced off enclosure that encompasses an area of the forest. There's nothing visible within the enclosure and a gate into the area is closed and locked. There's also an open area in front of the buildings and a patio with some picnic tables upon it.

Approaching the double doors into the main building we can here a generator running. Shen is first in again and we find the lights on but nobody visibly in attendance. One of several doors leading from the room opens and a man puts his head around. We go through the "Who are you?" line of questioning again, adding that we found a dead chimp on the way up the path and have brought it with us.

He introduces himself as Paul Rumsam, the facility's chef, and calls a woman called Maureen Motram to deal with the chimp. Maureen looks upset about the chimp and after brief introductions she takes it away for an autopsy. Yuki does offer to help but is politely and firmly turned down.

Paul explains that we are expected, but they weren't sure exactly how many of us were coming, so they only have four 'chalets' for us to stay in. He suggests we get ourselves refreshed and then to head back here and he'll get some food ready. Yuki and I quickly claim one chalet each, leaving the others to squabble over who has to share with Crash. Shen looses.

Washed and changed, I collect Yuki and we head back over to the main building for the promised food. Paul meets us in the foyer again and then leads us through a door to the left and into a sizeable room with a large buffet laid out on the tables and 16 people stood around chatting and eating.

We're introduced to everybody, the most important of who is Professor Janet Fletcher, who heads the research team. It's noticeable that Maureen looks like she's been crying. The other obvious thing is that the maintenance engineers we're introduced to aren't actually maintenance engineers. If I'm any judge I'd say they're solos. I turn to ask Shen if he's noticed, but seeing that he seems to have developed a breast fixation, I leave him to it.

Trying as best as I can to mingle and learn about the place, it's evident that there is very little 'shop talk' taking place. Everyone seems to be taking the opportunity to just indulge in some meaningless chit-chat. Well, that or they're being careful not to say anything in front of us. Following the food we're given a quick tour of part of the building containing three labs and a surgery complete with a full size autopsy table.

We retire to our chalets to get some rest as none of us slept much on the Tarragon, even if we weren't throwing up bits of lower intestine like Crash. I chose to just lie in bed for a while and listen to the rain drumming its steady rhythm on the roof lights and windows. I notice it stop about 11 o'clock and drift off to sleep sometime after that.

I'm woken about 1:30 in the morning by a great deal of screaming and whooping. As I pull back the curtain to look out the window the facility's exterior lights are coming on. Floodlights struggle to turn night into day in the chimp enclosure. A number of people come out of the main building and cautiously enter the enclosure.

There are no chimps visible, so they must have scattered into the trees. As my eyes get used to the harsh glare of the artificial lights outside, I can make out a small black mound just inside the enclosure's gate.

I see Maureen enter the enclosure followed by two of the 'maintenance technicians' carrying what look like tranquilliser guns. Maureen crouches down by the black mound and even from here I can tell she's upset by the way her shoulders slump. She gestures to a couple of the others who are still stood near the main building and they come hurrying over with a stretcher. They put the chimp on it and carry both back inside.

The enclosure empties of people and the gate is locked once more. I pull the curtain back across the window and return to bed. A couple of minutes later someone is thoughtful enough to kill the exterior lights.

Bloody chimps. Probably got into a fight over a banana and ended up waking everyone. I drift back off to sleep within moments...

This page © Greg Aldridge, 25 August 2003