The Chimera Sequence Read Online Free PDF Page B

Probably some kind of virus—maybe monkeypox. Don’t you think?”
    “Can’t say I’ve ever seen a case myself, but that’s definitely how I would expect it to look.” Cole traced his fingers through the hair of the gorilla’s broad back. “The skin feels pretty normal through here, though. Would that be a typical distribution?”
    “Yes, monkeypox lesions are usually focused around the face and extremities, just like smallpox used to be.”
    “That’s right, and chicken pox stays around the torso more. I can still remember those itchy sores all over my chest, but the worst were the ones my little eight-year old arms couldn’t reach in the middle of my back.”
    Cole thought of his littlest brother and sister, not yet born when the rest of his family suffered through those couple of weeks of Varicella infection. They were the only ones of his siblings who got immunity the easy way, after the chicken pox vaccine was finally approved.
    “Okay, give me two minutes to take a couple samples of these lesions.” Cole slid a new scalpel blade onto the slightly rusted handle in his other hand. “Then we’ll get out of here.”
    “Here, this should be a good spot,” Musamba said, pointing at a pus-filled lump on the bare underside of Rugendo’s swollen forearm. It was still intact—hadn’t had time to open up while the gorilla was still alive.
    Cole lowered the scalpel blade towards the skin for the initial incision.
    “Alrighty, cover your eyes just in case we’ve got any pressure in there.”
    His warning was a split second too late. A tiny geyser of pus just missed Cole’s face and hit Innocence Kambale right at the corner of the mouth.
    “ Zoba !” The ranger jumped back, and Bonny whined, looking at Cole suspiciously. Good thing I don’t understand Lingala . He hadn’t even realized Innocence was there, leaning in behind them, when he started cutting.
    “Oh, man, did I get you?” He hoped his genuine concern was clear.
    “I am fine.” Innocence was not wearing a mask. “Did not expect it to jump out at me like that. Next time, some more warning maybe?”
    Cole knew he wouldn’t have been able to regain his own composure so quickly had their roles been reversed. But like most African guides and park rangers who spent their lives working with foreigners, Innocence had developed an incredible level of patience with his wazungu . Some criticized it as leftover colonial subservience, but it also meant job security.
    Musamba tore open an alcohol wipe and reached it toward the younger man’s scarred face. “Just a small spot, I think. You didn’t feel anything inside your mouth?”
    “No, I will be fine,” Innocence said. He let out Bonny’s lead and she immediately plunged ahead into the brush. “I will make a quick circle to see if there are any others.”
    “Let’s hope he will be fine,” Cole said under his breath, watching Innocence lift his weapon and disappear behind the bloodhound. “I’ll feel horrible if he comes down with something from that.”
    “Don’t worry too much. Doesn’t look like it got on his mucous membranes, and these guys who grew up in the forest have incredible immune systems anyway.” Musamba circled another lesion on the gorilla’s arm with one finger. “Here’s a good one. Just leave a wider margin so you don’t burst the lesion this time.”
    Cole carved a perfect elliptical pattern around the lump—just like removing a little skin tumor from an old golden retriever. He realized he was unconsciously allowing himself room for a tension-free closure, momentarily forgetting that this patient was way too far gone to be worrying about proper wound healing.
    “Could you hand me a rat tooth forceps?” he asked. “Need to elevate this bit of skin so I can see what I’m doing when I cut it away from the underlying tissue.”
    Musamba tore open one end of a small paper sterile pack from his bag and folded back the ends, allowing Cole to reach in for the