So even though his behavior about a trip to Bethesda was odd, she was inclined to regard it as probably minor. She glanced at her watch and decided it was time to defrost the spaghetti sauce for dinner. She didn't want Jamie eating too many cookies or it would spoil his appetite. Tracy had turned her music up louder again.
In short, daily events took over, and pushed Henry and his odd trip from her mind. She had other things to do, and she did them.
CHapter 035
Henry Kendallleft Dulles Airport and drove north on 267, heading toward the Primate Facility in Lambertville. It was almost an hour before he saw the chain-link fence and the guardhouse behind the double gates. Beyond the gates he saw huge maple trees that obscured the complex of buildings farther back. Lambertville was one of the largest primate-research facilities in the world, but the National Institutes did not publicize that fact, or its location. Partly because primate research was so politically charged, and partly out of concern for vandalism by activists. Henry pulled up at the outer gate, pushed the button, and said, "Henry Kendall," and gave his code number. He hadn't been here for four years, but the code was still good. He leaned out of the car so the camera could see his face clearly.
"Thank you, Dr. Kendall." The gate opened. He pulled through to the second gate. The first closed behind him. A guard came out and checked his ID. He vaguely remembered the guy. "Didn't expect you today, Dr. Kendall." He handed him a temporary swipe card.
"They want me to clear out some things from my storage locker."
"Yeah, I'll bet. Things are getting tighter around here, since, you know."
"Yeah, I know." He meant Bellarmino.
The inner gate opened and Henry drove through. He passed the admin building and went straight to the holding facilities. The chimps were formerly in Building B. He assumed they still were.
He opened the outer door and swiped his card on the inner door. He went down a corridor to the B Monitor Room. It was a room filled with display screens, showing all the chimpanzees on two floors of the facility. There were about eighty animals of various ages and sexes.
The on-duty veterinary assistant was there, in khaki uniform. But also there was Rovak, the head of the facility. He must have been notified by the front gate. Rovak was fifty, steel gray hair, military bearing. But he was a good scientist.
"I wondered when you'd show up," Rovak said. He shook hands. He seemed friendly. "You got the blood?"
"Yes." Henry nodded.
"Fucking Bellarmino had a cow," Rovak said. "He hasn't been out here yet, and we think we know why."
"What do you mean?" Henry said.
"Let's take a walk," Rovak said.
Henry consulted his paper. "I'm looking for female F-402."
"No," Rovak said. "You're looking for the offspring of female F-402. He's this way."
They started down a side corridor. This led to a small training facility that was used for short-term teaching experiments with animals. "You keep him here?"
"Have to. You'll see."
They came into the training facility. At first glance, it looked like a kindergarten play room, brightly colored toys scattered around, blue carpet on the floor. A casual visitor might not notice that the toys were all made of high-impact, durable plastic. There were observation glass walls on one side. Mozart was playing over the speakers.
"Likes Mozart," Rovak said, shrugging. They went into a smaller room, off to the side. A shaft of sunlight came down from the ceiling. There was a five-by-five cage in the center. Inside sat a young chimpanzee, about the size of a four-year-old child. The chimp's face was flatter than usual, and the skin was pale, but it was clearly a chimp.
"Hello, Dave," Rovak said.
"Hello," the chimp said. His voice was raspy. He turned to Henry. "Are you my mother?" he said.
Henry Kendallcould not speak. His jaw moved, but no words came out. Rovak said, "Yes, he is, Dave." He turned to Kendall. "His name is Dave."
The chimp was staring at Henry. Just staring silently, sitting there in the cage, holding his toes in his fingers.
"I know it's a shock," Rovak said. "Think how people here felt, when they found out. Vet almost passed out. Nobody had any idea he was different until out of the blue; he came up negative on a sialic acid test. They repeated it because they assumed it was an error. But it wasn't an error. And then he started talking about three months ago."
Henry sighed.
"He speaks well," Rovak said. "Has a little trouble with verb tenses. But nobody has been instructing him. In fact, he's been kept away from everybody around here. You want to let him out?"
Kendall hesitated. "Is he, uh..." Chimps could be nasty and aggressive; even small ones might be dangerous.
"Oh sure, he's very docile. He's not a chimp, right?" He opened the cage. "Come on out, Dave."
Dave came out hesitantly, like a man released from jail. He seemed frightened to be outside the cage. He looked at Henry. "Am I going to live with you?"
"I don't know," Henry said.
"I don't like the cage."
He reached out and took Henry's hand. "Can we go play?"
They went into the playroom. Dave led.
Henry said, "Is this his routine?"
"Right. He gets about an hour a day. Mostly with the vet. Sometimes me."
Dave went over to the toys and began to arrange them into shapes. A circle, then a square.
"I'm glad you came to see him," Rovak said. "I think it's important."
"What's going to happen to him?"