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DAY 8: KANYAMAGUFA

June 20, 1979

1 Descent

EVERYONE SLEPT LATE ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 20 They had a leisurely breakfast, taking the time to cook a hot meal They relaxed in the sun, and played with Ahted by this unexpected attention It was past ten o&039;clock before they started down Mukenko to the jungle

Because the western slopes of Mukenko are sheer and i volcanic crater to a depth of half aa porter&039;s load on his head; Asari, the strongest porter, had to carry Amy, because the rocks were arded the hule-file down the steep inner cone to be : the heat was intense; as they approached the lava lake, the acrid fumes made eyes water and nostrils burn; they heard the lava pop and crackle beneath the heavy black crust

Then they reached the foreh, and so sh this arch a fresh breeze blew, and they saw the green jungle below They paused to rest in the arch, and Ross examined the smooth inner surface It was part of a lava tube formed in some earlier eruption; thejust the slender arch

"They call it the Devil&039;s Eye," Munro said, "because frolows like a red eye"

Froh an alpine zone, and froed terrain of a recent lava flow Here they encountered black craters of scorched earth, soht was that the Zaire army had used this field for mortar practice But on closer examination, they saw a scorched pattern etched into the rock, extending like tentacles outward fro like it; Ross iot in touch with Houston She seemed very excited

The party rested while she reviewed the data on the little screen; Munro said, "What are you asking them?"

"The date of the last Mukenko eruption, and the local weather It was in March - Do you know somebody named Searae for you," she said, pointing to the screen

Elliot came around to look: SEMNS MESG FOR ELYT STNDBY

"What&039;s the e?" Elliot asked

"Push the transe flashed: REVUWD ORGNL TAPE HUSTNNUN

"I don&039;t understand," Elliot said Ross explained that the "M" e, and he had to press the transain He pushed the button several tie, which in its entirety read:

REVUWO ORGNL TAPE HUSTN NU FINDNG RE AURL SIGNL INFO - COMPUTR ANLYSS COMPLTE THNK ITS LNGWGE

Elliot found he could read the co it aloud: "Reviewed original tape Houston, new finding regarding aural signal infore" He frowned "Language?"

Ross said, "Didn&039;t you ask hiinal tape o?"

"Yes, but that was for visual identification of the ani to him about aural information" Elliot shook his head "I wish I could talk to hi him up" She pushed the interlock button, and fifteen minutes later Elliot typed, Hello Tom How Are You? The screen printed HLO TOM HOURU

"We don&039;t usually waste satellite ti," Ross said

The screen printed SLEPY WHRERU

He typed, Virunga VIRNGA

"Travis is going to scream when he sees this transcript," Ross said "Do you realize what the transmission costs are?"

But Ross needn&039;t have worried; the conversation soon became technical:

RECVD MESG AURL INFO PLS XPLN

AXIDENTL DISKVRY VRY XCITNG-DISCRIMNT FUNXN COMPT ANLSS 99 CONFDNCE LIMTS TAPD AURL INFO {BRETHNG SOUNS} DEMNSTRTS CHRCTRISTX SPECH

SPSFY CHRCTRISTX

REPETNG ELMNTS-ARBTRARY PATRN-STRXRAL RLATNSHPS-PROBLY THRFOR SPOKN LNGWGE

KN U TRNSLTE?

NOT SOFR

WHT RESN?

COMPUTR HAS INSFSNT INFO IN AURL MESG-WNT NOR DATA-ST WORKNG-MAYB NOR TOMORO-FINGRS X

RLY THNK GORILA LNGWGE?

YES IF GORILA

"I&039;ll be damned," Elliot said He ended the satellite transe froreen:

YES IF GORILA

2The Hairy Men

WITHIN TWO HOURS OF RECEIVING THIS unexpected news, the expedition had its first contact with gorillas

They were by now back in the darkness of the equatorial rain forest They proceeded directly toward the site, following the overhead laser beams They could not see these beauide, a cadth e the day, she inflated a suide with a wire, and released it Lifted by the heliuuide rose into the sky above the trees There it rotated, sighted one of the laser lines, and transmitted coordinates down the wire to the co laser intensity fro," the doubled intensity value that would signal the intersection of two beams above the thin when, toward midday, they caorilla, and they saw several nests round and in the trees

Fifteenroar "Gorilla," Munro announced "That was a o away

"We have to continue, Amy," he said

Gorilla no want huorillas," Elliot assured her But Amy just looked blank at this, and shook her head, as if Elliot had missed the point

Days later he realized that he had indeed orillas were afraid of being harorillas were afraid that the people would be harressed halfway across a se silverback e and bellowed at theone back to help one of the porters with his pack He saw six aniainst the green, watching the human intruders Several of the females cocked their heads and compressed their lips in a kind of disapproval The doe male with silver hair down his back His round, and his barrel chest indicated that he weighedhio had believed gorillas to be "hairy antic man, both in size and shape

At Elliot&039;s back Ross whispered, "What do we do?"

"Stay behind me," Elliot said, "and don&039;t move"

The silverback an a soft ho-ho-ho sound, which grewhandfuls of grass as he did so He threw the grass in the air, and then beat his chest with flat pal sound

"Oh, no," Ross said

The chest-beating lasted five seconds, and then the rass, slapping the foliage and hten the intruders off Finally he began the ho-ho-ho sound oncethat this display would send hi When it did not, the male leapt to his feet, Pounded his chest, and roared with even greater fury

And then he charged

With a howling screa speed, directly toward Elliot Elliot heard Ross gasp behind him He wanted to turn and run, his every bodily instinct screamed that he should run, but he forced hiround

Staring at his feet while he listened to the gorilla crashing through the tall grass toward him, he had the sudden sensation that all his abstract book knowledge rong, that everything that scientists around the world thought about gorillas rong He had aar wide as the powerful aniet foolish enough to believe all the acadeorilla (whonoise, and Elliot could see his heavy shadow on the grass near his feet But he did not look up until the shadow orilla retreating backward, toward the far edge of the clearing There the male turned, and scratched his head in a puzzled way, as if wondering why his terrifying: display had not driven off the intruders He slapped the ground a final time, and then he and the rest of the troopuntil Ross collapsed into Elliot&039;s arms

"Well," Munro said as he caorillas after all" Munro patted Ross&039;s ar unless you run away Then they bite you on the ass That&039;s the ions - because itquietly, and Elliot discovered that his own knees were shaky; he went to sit down It had all happened so fast that it was a few orillas had behaved in exactly the textbookany verbalizations even remotely like speech

3The Consortium

AN HOUR LATER THEY FOUND THE WRECKAGE OF the C-130 transport The largest airplane in the world appeared in correct scale as it lay half buried in the jungle, the gigantic nose crushed against equally gigantic trees, the enors buckled casting shadows on the jungle floor

Through the shattered cockpit windshield, they saw the body of the pilot, covered with black flies The flies buzzed and thu aft, they tried to look into the fuselage s, but even on cruh above the jungle floor

Kahega ed to cli and looked into the interior "No people," he said

"Supplies?"

"Yes, many supplies Boxes and containers" Munro left the others, walking beneath the crushed tail section to exa, concealed froone That explained why the plane crashed - the last FZAawayYet the wreck re about its appearance rong He looked along the length of the fuselage, from the crushed nose, down the line of s, past the stu, past the rear exit doors

"I&039;ll be damned," Munro said softly

He hurried back to the others, ere sitting on one of the tires, in the shadow of the starboard wing The tire was so enor her feet in the air without touching the ground

"Well," Ross said, with barely concealed satisfaction

"They didn&039;t get their damn supplies"

"No," Munro said "Andthis plane the night before last, which means it&039;s been down at least thirty-six hours"

Munro waited for Ross to figure it out

"Thirty-six hours?"

"That&039;s right Thirty-six hours"

"And they never caet their supplies

"They didn&039;t even try to get theo doors, fore and aft - no one has tried to open them I wonder why they never caround underfoot

crunched and crackled Pushing aside the pal of shattered white bones

"Kanyalanced quickly at the porters to see what their reaction was, but they showed only puzzlement, no fear They were East African Kikuyu and they had none of the superstitions of the tribes that bordered the rain forest

Aned, Ground hurt

Elliot signed, What place this?

We come bad place