Chapter 20

When Millie woke that morning, she knew it was the day she had to leave. She didn’t know why she knew, couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew nonetheless. A brief rain shower had moved over the mountains during the night, leaving the desert morning cool, fragrant, refreshed. Overnight, desert willow, catclaw acacia, and evening primrose burst into bloom, flooding the cabin area with color. The perfumed air tickled Millie’s nose while she loaded her car.

She led Roku to the car and put him in the back seat. He signed to her, “Going for ride?”

“Yes, Roku,” she signed back, “we’re going for a ride. Going to live somewhere else.”

Roku continued to sign. “I’m hungry. Can we eat?”

“I’m sorry. We’ll get something to eat on the road. We just need to get away from here.”

More signing. “Why? Is anything wrong?”

“Why? I don’t know. I just have a feeling we need to leave. Now stay in the back seat and settle down.”

Millie returned to the cabin to gather the last of their belongings. After stowing them in the trunk, she climbed behind the wheel and started her car. During the process of packing, the idea came to her that San Francisco was the place to hide out--she was familiar with the city, and it was large enough that they should not be recognized--if she could find a place for Roku and her to stay.

A weak sun peeked over the hills behind her as Millie headed toward Apache Junction. Clouds from the previous night’s storm still lingered low, in scattered billows, and the air was cool and crisp. Her car, an ancient Ford with worn tires, bumped over the rutted dirt road, causing her to worry what she would do in the event of a flat. She glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed Weaver’s Needle behind her. Roku soon fell asleep in the back seat, his heavy breathing slow and regular. She returned her attention to dodging the numerous ruts and small boulders that lined the narrow roadway.

San Francisco, that was where she would go. She made a quick mental calculation and figured she could be there by nightfall, pending any unnecessary delays. Once at Apache Junction, she would be able to drive much faster and, from Phoenix, it would be interstate all the way, skirting the northern edge of Los Angeles. At Pasadena, she would turn northwest, travel through the San Joaquin Valley into San Francisco. At least that was how she remembered it. She would have to consult her map later when she stopped for lunch.

The road that paralleled the Salt River was wider but more tortuous. The sun was directly in her rear view mirror, making it difficult to see the road, but soon it curved southwest, and she stopped squinting. She hated to leave the quiet peace of her father’s cabin, for she felt it offered a certain isolation and security she wouldn’t find anywhere else, but she had an uneasy feeling about remaining another day. She thought about calling her father from Apache Junction but decided to wait until she was closer to San Francisco. She struggled with whether she should tell him what was happening with her and Roku. Hopefully, all he knew was what she told him-- that she was on a much-needed vacation from her work at the primate facility--unless the police were already looking for her and had called him. Her stay in the Superstition Mountains with Roku was enjoyable, with her managing to increase his vocabulary and signing ability. He was actually able to sign in simple sentences. The mountains were a peaceful respite from the stress of her job at the primate facility, but it was work taking care of the little chimera. But never far from her mind was the unsettling knowledge that they were running from the university and the law.

She had stolen Roku. He was university property.

So when she awoke that morning with an uneasy feeling that, if they didn’t leave the cabin, they would be apprehended, she would wind up in jail--and who knew what would happen to Roku?--it was an easy decision to pack up and leave but one she hoped she wouldn’t regret down the line. He father might be a different story. Would he understand when he heard the complete story from her? She hoped so. Her mother, she knew, would be in her corner, but her father was much more pragmatic and not given to hasty or emotional conclusions. It might require a face-to-face meeting to win him over.

At Apache Junction, the road turned to asphalt, and Millie pushed the accelerator to the floor. As she sped toward Phoenix, Roku stirred, and she shot a quick glance at him signing from the rear seat.

“Yes, Roku,” she said, “we’ll stop for breakfast in a little while.”

“Where are we going?” he signed.

“To California. San Francisco.” She knew he wouldn’t understand the concepts of cities and states.

“Why?”

Millie gave up trying to sign and drive at the same time. “So you won’t be taken back and put in that cage,” she said, trying to keep one eye on the road and the other on Roku and his signing.

“I’m hungry. I want to stop.”

“We can’t stop right now, it isn’t safe. I promise, Roku, we’ll stop very soon.” Millie was losing patience with Roku’s infantile insistence. In spite of the fact that the chimera now weighed close to a hundred pounds, he still possessed an immature personality. During the past month, Millie realized that although Roku’s brain was advanced and possessed human intelligence, he was, in many ways, still a primate. His baser tendencies were definitely in the animal realm, and her primary focus, besides developing his language skills, had been an attempt to modify Roku’s instinctual behavior. So far, she wasn’t sure she was making progress.

“But I want to stop. I want to stop and eat.”

Millie slowed and signed. “Roku, sit down and be quiet. We will stop and eat soon.”

“Now be quiet!” she yelled. With her voice raised, Millie almost drove off the road. Roku was beginning to get under her skin. She was going to have to feed him or risk an accident.

***

Harry looked at his watch. Twelve-oh-one a.m. Below the small promontory, he saw a column of FBI agents running single file toward the cabin, their weapons at the ready. He nudged Dixie who was crouched beside him.

“Let’s go,” he said.

The two scrambled from their position and hurried to catch up with the agents who fanned out as they got closer to the dark cabin. The drone of the helicopter grew louder, suddenly appearing over a ridge, and descended to a clearing behind the cabin. Harry had Dixie’s hand in his, and soon they were both panting hard. The ground was uneven, and Dixie had trouble keeping up. She stumbled several times, forcing Harry to wait while she regained her footing. The cabin loomed ahead, quiet and dark.

In a matter of seconds, the agents stormed the cabin. They bolted onto the small porch and, with a loud crash, burst through the door. Suddenly, the cabin was filled with light and FBI agents. As Harry led Dixie to the porch, they met Jacoby coming from inside.

“Not here,” Jacoby said. “Gone. And by the emptiness of the cabin, they won’t be returning. Damn.”

Special Agent Jacoby returned his .40 caliber pistol to his shoulder holster and ambled to the other agents of the strike team who had assembled at the far end of the cabin, their headlamps casting eerie shafts of light through the darkness. Harry and Dixie stood alone to one side of the group. Harry wondered what the next plan was to be. Dixie put an arm around his. He felt its warmth.

“What do you think?” she said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

“I dunno. She’s gone, obviously. But where?”

“And why? Why would she take off like this?”

“To save Roku’s life, Dixie. She ran to save its life.”

Harry led his wife back up the hill to the promontory where the FBI vehicles were parked. As they returned to the Phoenix field office, Dixie wasn’t satisfied with Harry’s explanation.

“Not just to save its life, Harry,” she said as they rode through the darkness. “The creature has her DNA in it. It is part Millie Harbaum.”

“This is too confusing,” Harry said. “Hard to wrap my brain around it.”

“I used the term creature,” Dixie said, “but it is really a chimera, part animal, part human. It is an earth-shattering accomplishment and one Millie wants the world to acknowledge.”

“She’s after fame?”

“No, I don’t believe so. Few women are motivated by personal fame or fortune. I think it is much deeper, a sincere desire to advance mankind’s knowledge.”

“Why do you say that?” Harry glanced out the Humvee’s window and watched the dark shadows of the Superstition Mountains recede behind them.

“I got to know Millie after our Yeti escaped and during the search for them. She was devastated by their deaths. She was deeply committed to her work at the facility. With her, it was all about the science.”

“Do you think this chimera should be destroyed?” Harry said.

“Roku is its name,” Dixie said. “I don’t know. I have a moral dilemma where that is concerned. Lots of people would say Millie was tinkering with something best left alone. Playing God and all that. On the other hand, Roku is part human. So doesn’t that make it in possession of certain rights? After all, if certain unborn fetuses have the right to live, why not Roku? One could argue that half its genetic makeup is human.”

“So, where do you come down on whether or not it should be destroyed?” Dixie had the unnerving habit of dancing around a question.

“I think, right now, until we have more information, I would opt for allowing it to live.”

“The cause of science trumps morality?”

“Not necessarily. But, for now, I don’t think we should rush in and kill it just because we don’t understand everything or have all the moral or ethical answers. We can always do it later.”

“Later would make it harder. And how do we know Millie doesn’t have other genetically engineered fetuses frozen somewhere at the facility? There could be more chimeras just waiting to be thawed and implanted in a chimp. How do we know what she was planning?”

Dixie put her hand in Harry’s.

“All the more reason to find her,” she said. “And we need to do it before these law enforcement goons find her, don’t you think?”

Harry nodded. In the distance, he could make out the vague shadows of eastern Phoenix. Behind them, the sky turned an inky gray. Dawn wasn’t far off.

“We should talk with her parents,” he said. “In person. Her father seemed reasonable when I called him earlier.”

“As a dentist, he should understand the science involved.”

“Since I am no longer employed by the university, I think we should fly to Toledo and speak to Millie’s parents. They might have an idea where she could be heading. She might have called them after leaving the cabin.”

“Good idea,” Dixie said. “I still can’t believe Cal Pacific just up and terminated you. Those bastards. After all you have done for the university. They’re nothing more than a bunch of slimy lowlifes. I hope they get what’s coming to them.”

Harry chuckled and patted Dixie’s hand.

“Bastards,” he said. “Your favorite word for them.”

“Can I help it if that’s what they are?”

“Now, now, honey. They did what they thought they had to do. But, I admit, it was a shock. We’re free. We’ve got some money saved. Let’s find Millie.”

“And if, and when, we do? What then?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

The eastern sky was a smear of orange and red when they arrived at the Phoenix FBI field office. Harry and Dixie shook hands with Jacoby and drove to the airport. After parking their car in the long-term lot, they carried their bags into the Sky Harbor International Airport and purchased tickets to Toledo. Once they were airborne, Harry looked at Dixie who proffered weak smile. He settled back in his seat and watched the stewardesses begin their rounds.

What was he doing? He was without a job, had a wife to support, and had no idea where or when his next paycheck was coming. His career was all but finished, and his professional reputation would soon be ruined.

He didn’t know it, but things would get much worse.