Marten was lost. His own damn fault for trying to find the canisters before sunrise oriented him. But what little he could see of the sky showed a lid of clouds. With no firm idea of east, he’d have to guess about north. Because north was where he’d left the canisters.
He hadn’t seen a dapi since dark had fallen. No reflective eyes watching from the trees, no chatter. Almost as if they’d deserted the island. The overcast would prevent the sun from cresting the rim. Would that mean no ceremony this morning?
At last he located the canisters hidden in the underbrush as he’d left them. And immediately he saw the reason the detonation had failed.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Four of the alligator connectors—two from each board—were missing. The black wires were still there, but the reds were gone.
Just as he’d suspected: dapis … had to be the dapis. But why? Were they attracted to red? What the hell was he going to do now?
Movement behind him made him turn. A dapi male hung from a low branch, staring at him. And around his neck … four red wires. He’d learned how to work the alligator clips and made a necklace for himself.
Slowly, avoiding any sudden moves, Keith checked his pockets on the off chance he had a protein bar somewhere on his person. But no. Nothing. He needed something to entice the dapi closer … close enough to grab those connectors. All he had were phones.
During his train and bus trips up and down the Mozambique coast he’d downloaded an app or two to help pass the time. He had the old standby, Tetris. He’d heard about Angry Birds and tried it but found it ridiculous. Same with Candy Crush—mindless. He couldn’t believe people actually spent hours with—
Wait … didn’t Angry Birds feature a red bird?
Maybe … just maybe …
He began searching through his apps, praying he hadn’t dragged it to the trash can.