Chapter 17
Day 18
I wake up all alone in my hotel room, and start to think about the conversation I had with Cole yesterday. I really feel sorry for him and need to cheer him up somehow. I am in the shower washing my hair when I get the idea to buy Cole a rat. I have a rat at home and know what great company they are, so I think Cole would really enjoy having one.
After my shower, I get dressed and grab a phone book out of the nightstand drawer. I start looking under pet stores and make a few calls. No rats. Then the thought hits me—a reptile store usually has rats for sale because what do snakes eat? Rats. Before I go to the reptile store, I am going to have breakfast.
The closest reptile store is 15 city blocks away, so I decide to hail a cab instead of walking that far. I go into the store and ask for a medium rat pup. Being a rat owner myself, I know it is best to buy them at a young age, because they are easier to train. If trained properly, they will become the most loving pet you can imagine. People don’t give rats a fair chance.
The store owner asks me what kind of snake I have, and I tell him, “It’s not going to be used as food, it will be a pet.” He looks at me like I’m crazy. I shrug my shoulders as if to say, oh well. He lets me go into the back room, so I can pick out the rat I want. I already know what I want though. I want a nice silvery gray rat, with a satin finish. I look through the drawer of rat pups and huddled in the corner, with his head under his body sleeping, is the perfect rat.
“That one--right there, that’s the one I want.”
He pulls the rat out of the drawer and hands him to me. The little fella looks at me with those black, beady, little eyes and I know he’s the one. I decide to buy a small cage, some rat food, and a small hut to put on the inside of the cage, so he can crawl up inside when he sleeps. I thank the store owner and go back outside to the cab, which is waiting.
“Please take me to the Lab Facility at the Darwin Hospital.”
“Good Morning, Geoff,” I say, as I enter the command post. “Dane and Derrick will be here at 10:00 a.m. We will need to put some things in the hotel room, but should be airborne by 11:00 a.m. It will take us about three and a half hours to get to Perth. What’s going on?”
He explains that Nicola was here until midnight experimenting with the embalming fluid. Initial observations show that the strength of the embalming fluid used at the funeral homes is not sufficient to kill the parasite. She has contacted the pharmaceutical company that manufacturers the chemical, and they are sending a much stronger version today. The plane left at 5:00 a.m. and is scheduled to land at 9:00 a.m. Marcus will meet the plane at the airport and transport the chemical back here to the lab.
That is not good news because that means that the septic tank in Perth is probably contaminated, and the body we are going to exhume is probably still filled with the parasite. Luckily, we don’t need to bring any biohazard suits with us because the CDC in Perth will have all of the equipment and protective clothing we need.
“It sounds like we are going to busy in Perth.”
I excuse myself and walk outside of the command post to get the rat, and the cage with all its accessories. “I’ll be right back, Geoff. I picked up a present for Cole this morning on my way in.”
“What is it, Kobi?”
“Come with me and you’ll find out.”
I get to Cole’s room and knock on the glass. He comes to the window and says, “Good morning Kobi, Geoff.”
“Hey Cole, how are you doing today?”
“I’m feeling good, thanks. What’s in the box?”
“I got you a present today on my way in. I am going to slip it through the bottom panel access on the door. Ready?”
“Got it. Can I open it?”
“Sure.”
“Uhhh, it’s a rat!”
“I know, isn’t he adorable?”
“Yeah, he is, but it’s a rat. Why a rat?”
“Well, I have to tell you a story. You know Derrick loves snakes, right? We have a Ball Python at home, and every Sunday, Derrick gives the snake a medium rat pup for dinner. On this particular Sunday, the snake wasn’t interested in eating at all. So, we took the rat out of the container we were feeding the snake in and tried again the next day. We tried three more times to feed the rat to the snake and the snake wasn’t interested. The rat actually climbed up the body of the snake to get out of the container. I thought that was pretty cool.”
“This isn’t that rat, is it?”
“No, so anyway, I was going to release the rat into the wooded area behind our house, but it was too cold, so I thought I would wait until Spring to release him. Well, I fell in love with the rat. I couldn’t let him go because he is, without a doubt, the best pet I have ever had. If I am home, he is out of his cage, perched on my shoulder or sitting with me in my chair. He eats dinner with me and even has his own plate. Rats get a bad rap because of the plague that killed 25 million people, but it wasn’t the rats that carried the plague, it was the fleas on the rats. They are very clean animals with no odor at all. My rat’s name is Buddee.”
“Gee Kobi, thanks. No one has ever thought enough of me to buy me a rat,” he says with a half grin on his face. “No seriously, thanks. He will be good company. So, does Derrick still have the snake at the house?”
“Yeah, he does, but I don’t feed it or even watch the snake eat anymore. I can’t because I see the rat being suffocated and can’t help but think of Buddee. I would have missed out on one of the most wonderful little animals in the world. Here is a picture of Buddee right here. Isn’t he cute?”
“He is adorable. He looks just like this guy,” Cole comments.
“I know, that’s why I got him. Look at his face. If you look at him from this angle, nose to nose, you can see a faint, white, ring around his nose. I love that. And look at his little hands, they are so human-like, except they don’t have thumbs--see the little knuckles and the fingernails. I think the back feet look like the feet of a T-Rex. Don’t you? Look at his ears, they’re paper thin. You can see right through them.”
“Kobi, you are so funny. I have never met anyone quite like you!” Geoff says as he pats me on the shoulder. “Cole, I’ll see you later. Enjoy Rattee.”
“Thanks. Hey Kobi, I think I will name it Buddy, if that’s okay with you,” Cole says smiling.
I just smile and nod my head yes. I walk away with my hand in the air waving goodbye.
“That was very thoughtful of you to buy Cole a rat. It will be good company for him,” Geoff comments.
Marcus is coming down the hall with the chemicals Nicola requested from the company. That means the plane has landed and we can head to the airport as soon as Derrick and Dane get here.
Trevor and Nicola have given me a copy of all the information they have on the parasite to give to the CDC Director in Perth. If there is an outbreak there, this information will be useful. My phone is ringing, and I know it is probably Derrick.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Honey. We are at the hotel putting everything in the room. Are you
ready to go?”
“Yes I am. Give me about 15 minutes, and I will meet you in the lobby of the hotel.”
“Okay, see you in a little while.”
I swing by the command post to say goodbye to Geoff, then I am out the door. I walk into the lobby and Derrick is waiting for me.
“Where’s Dane?
“He will be right down. I packed your bag for you. I hope I didn’t forget anything.”
“Thanks, Babe.”
Dane comes jogging into the lobby and is ready to go. We have the hotel shuttle us to the airport and drive us right out to the plane. It is a huge corporate jet sitting all alone out there on the tarmac. The pilot is downstairs doing his walk around. We go to the pilot and introduce ourselves.
“Hi, I’m Kobi Reed, and this is my husband, Derrick. This is our guide and friend
, Dane.”
“Good morning, I’m Henderson Smith, pleased to meet you.”
“Henderson, do you mind if I fly right seat with you today? I am a pilot and would love to see how she flies.”
“No problem at all, Kobi. I’d love the company. I’ll even let you get a little autopilot off action if you want to.”
“Now you’re talking. Hey Derrick, I’m his co-pilot today. You can see me in action.”
Henderson is not from Australia; he is an American. I wonder how he ended up down here? This big plane is a lot different from the Cessna 172 I currently use for instruction back home. I am sitting here in awe of the sophisticated equipment and having trouble finding the instruments I know, like an artificial horizon. This cockpit is one of those fancy glass cockpits that little Cessnas don’t have. Henderson explains everything to me as we taxi out. He shows me the airspeed indicator, the artificial horizon, the gear handle, the flaps, and the engine instruments. Wow, this plane is amazing.