At the time, both Candace and Melanie questioned what he’d meant by being terrified of overstepping the bounds. But they didn’t persist when it became clear that Kevin was overly upset and reluctant to explain. Intuitively, the women had decided it best to change the subject, at least for the time.

“I’ve come to see if I can drag you over to meet Mr. Horace Winchester,” Candace said. “I told him about you, and he’d like to thank you in person.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea,” Kevin said. He could feel himself tense.

“On the contrary,” Candace said. “After what you said at lunch, I think you should see the good side of what you have been able to accomplish. I’m sorry that what I said made you feel so terrible.”

Candace’s remark was the first reference to Kevin’s lunch outburst since its occurrence. Kevin’s pulse quickened.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “I’d been upset before your comments.”

“Then come meet Horace,” Candace said. “His recovery is fantastic. He’s doing so well, in fact, that an intensive-care nurse like me is just about unnecessary.”

“I wouldn’t know what to say,” Kevin mumbled.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter what you say,” Candace said. “The man is so thankful. Just a few days ago, he was so sick he thought he was going to die. Now he feels like he’s been given a new lease on life. Come on! It can’t help but make you feel good.”

Kevin struggled to think up a reason not to go and then was saved by another voice. It was Melanie.

“Ah, my two favorite drinking buddies,” Melanie said coming into the room. She’d caught sight of Candace and Kevin through the open door. She’d been on her way to her own lab down the hall. She was dressed in blue coveralls which had animal center embroidered on the breast pocket.

“Are either of you guys hungover?” Melanie asked. “I’ve still got a little buzz. God, we went through two bottles of wine. Can you believe it?”

Neither Candace or Kevin responded.

Melanie looked back and forth between their faces. She sensed something was wrong.

“What is this-a wake?” she asked.

Candace smiled. She loved Melanie’s outspoken irreverence. “Hardly,” Candace said. “Kevin and I are at a standoff. I was just trying to talk him into going over to the hospital to meet Mr. Winchester. He’s already out of bed and feeling chipper. I told him about you guys, and he’d like to meet both of you.”

“I hear he owns a string of resort hotels,” Melanie said with a wink. “Hey, maybe we can finagle some vouchers for complimentary drinks.”

“As appreciative and as wealthy as he is, you could very well do better than that,” Candace said. “The problem is that Kevin doesn’t want to go.”

“How come, sport?” Melanie asked.

“I thought it would be a good idea for him to see the good side of what he’s been able to accomplish,” Candace added.

Candace caught Melanie’s eye. Melanie understood Candace’s motivations immediately.

“Yeah,” Melanie said. “Let’s get some positive feedback from a real, live patient. That should justify all this hard work and give us a boost.”

“I think it will make me feel worse,” Kevin said. Ever since getting back to the lab, he’d been trying to concentrate on basic research to avoid facing his fears. The ploy had worked to an extent until his curiosity made him call up the Isla Francesca graphic on his computer terminal. Playing with the data had had an effect as bad as the smoke.

Melanie put her hands on her hips. “Why?” she asked. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s hard to explain,” Kevin said evasively.

“Try me,” Melanie challenged.

“Because seeing him will remind me of things I’m trying not to think about,” Kevin said. “Like what happened to the other patient.”

“You mean his double, the bonobo?” Melanie asked.

Kevin nodded. His face was now flushed, almost as bad as it had been at the commissary.

“You’re taking this animal-rights issue even more seriously than I am,” Candace remarked.

“I’m afraid it goes beyond animal rights,” Kevin said.

A tense silence intervened. Melanie glanced at Candace. Candace shrugged, suggesting she was at a loss.

“Okay, enough is enough!” Melanie said with sudden resolve. She reached up, placed both hands on Kevin’s shoulders, and pushed him down onto his laboratory stool.

“Up until this afternoon I thought we were just colleagues,” she said. She leaned over and put her sharp-featured face close to Kevin’s. “But now I feel differently. I got to know you a little bit, which I must say I appreciated, and I no longer think of you as an icy, aloof, intellectual snob. In fact I think we are friends. Am I right?”

Kevin nodded. He was forced to look up into Melanie’s black, marble-like eyes.

“Friends talk to each other,” Melanie said. “They communicate. They don’t hide their feelings and make others feel uncomfortable. Do you know what I’m saying?”

“I think so,” Kevin said. He’d never considered the idea his behavior was capable of making others uncomfortable.

“Think so?” Melanie chided. “How can I explain it so that you know so!”

Kevin swallowed. “I guess I know so.”

Melanie rolled her eyes in frustration. “You are so evasive, it drives me bananas. But that’s okay; I can deal with it. What I can’t deal with is your outburst at lunch. And when I tried to ask you what’s wrong, you gave some vague comment about ‘overstepping the bounds’ and then clammed up, unable to talk about it. You can’t let this fester, whatever it is that’s bothering you. It will only hurt you and impede your friendships.”

Candace nodded agreement with all that Melanie had expressed.

Kevin looked back and forth between the two outspoken and tenacious women. As much as he resisted expressing his fears, at the moment he didn’t think he had much choice, especially with Melanie’s face inches away from his own. Not knowing how to begin he said: “I’ve seen smoke coming from Isla Francesca.”

“What’s Isla Francesca?” Candace asked.

“It’s the island where the transgenic bonobos go once they reach age three,” Melanie said. “So what’s with smoke?”

Kevin stood and motioned for the women to follow him. He walked over to his desk. With his index finger he pointed out the window toward Isla Francesca. “I’ve seen the smoke three times,” he said. “It’s always from the same place just to the left of the limestone ridge. It’s only a little curl snaking up into the sky, but it persists.”

Candace squinted. She was mildly nearsighted, but for vanity reasons didn’t wear glasses. “Is it the farthest island?” she asked. She thought she could just make out some brownish smudges on its spine that could have been rock. In the late-afternoon sunlight, the other islands in the chain appeared like homogeneous mounds of dark green moss.

“That’s the one,” Kevin said.

“So, big deal!” Melanie commented. “A couple of little fires. With all the lightning around here it’s no wonder.”

“That’s what Bertram Edwards suggested,” Kevin said. “But it can’t be lightning.”

“Who’s Bertram Edwards?” Candace asked.

“Why can’t it be lightning?” Melanie asked ignoring Candace. “Maybe there’s some metal ore in that rocky ridge.”

“Ever hear the expression lightning never strikes the same place twice?” Kevin questioned. “The fire is not from lightning. Besides, the smoke persisted and has never moved.”

“Maybe some native people live out there,” Candace said.

“GenSys was very sure that was not the case before choosing the island,” Kevin said.

“Maybe some local fishermen visit,” Candace suggested.

“All the locals know it is forbidden,” Kevin said. “Because of the new Equatoguinean law it would be a capital offense. There’s nothing out there that would be worth dying for.”

“Then who started the fires?” Candace asked.

“Good God, Kevin!” Melanie exclaimed suddenly. “I’m beginning to get an idea what you’re thinking. But let me tell you, it’s preposterous.”