EXTINCTION WARRIOR

Chapter 20

White Wolf holds the bottle beckoning me, "You try.The baby needs milk."

Don't want to get near him, but need to play along. Do what he says. What choice do I have? Holding my breath, creep to the couch. Sit. He nods,passes the scaly ball and bottle to me. He sits back and opens his arms, resting them on the back of the couch, watching. Why? Why would he care about this terrified baby pangolin? Inhale, I want to calm her. How can I? I'm quivering. Focus. Breathe. Focus on her scales...take a deeper breath...focus on soothing her frightened being.

Scale-by-scale she comes to life. Slowly unfurling, blooming like a scaly flower to almost eight inches. Her eyes are like black beads. Her shiny, black nose is at the end of a long snout. Like a dainty sneeze, she snorts at my arms and face. Gently I place the bottle under her nose. She latches on immediately. Hungry. Pulls hard. Her pointy claws press into my hand. I trace the graceful curve of her ridged ear, and the scales on her back. She's so strange...like a little dinosaur...or an alien from a distant planet.I forget where I am for a nano. She's perfect, strangely amazing,sweet and innocent. Her contentment is all I know. I freeze when Ifeel something crawling up my back.

The old man is touching my braid! "Beautiful," he whispers.

Adrenalin shoots through me and I bolt upright, clutching the baby. Instantly she rolls into a ball.

"Do not touch me!"I yell, while my brain silently screams, 'where are you Tuk?!'

The old man pats the couch, "I promise. No more touching." He says. "Come sit."

"I'll stand until Tuk gets back!" I reply, trembling with rage and disgust.

White Wolf nods, smiling with his disgusting yellow teeth. He's dangerous. Dark. Heartless.Sadistic. To be this close to him feels like being at the edge of sticky quicksand sucking me down. I cannot trust anything he says. My heart pounds, inhale deeply...thoughts race wildly...what is taking Tuk so long...what happened to Big Bear...WHERE is Tuk...what's so special about this pangolin...why does he want to feed it...what is he going to do with me...where is Tuk?!

He's watching me...watching my face...watching my eyes dart around the room while my thoughts bubble, like methane discharging from the permafrost.

"You have a question?" He asks smiling, tilting his head.

Don't want to talk to him...but...I need to know..."Why are you feeding this baby???" I blurt.

His eyes brighten, "To fatten it up, of course...for dinner," he says, running his tongue over his lip, his eyes wide.

I stifle my gasp, and hold her closer as Big Bear thumps down the stairs. He crosses the room,and nods to White Wolf who stands, straightens his jacket and barks something in Chinese to the ships' navigation. I recognize one word—Mandalay. The engines rev higher. In seconds, the ship picks up speed. We're heading straight into the mouth of the Irrawaddy.

"Where is Tuk?"I demand. His name comes out clipped.

White Wolf approaches."The baby likes you," he says, as the pangolin slowly unrolls."Who is duck?"

Why doesn't he understand?"Mr. Tuttuk!" I snap.

"He is upstairs. I am going to discuss business with him now. Feed the baby. Make him fat and juicy," he says, and shoots Big Bear a look. The freak-a-droid nods. White Wolf glides across the room and up the stairs like the devil's ghostly grandfather.

Big Bear flaps over,inches from me, expressionless. I know droids can do horrible things,but I refuse to be afraid of this ridiculous humanoid.