She chuckled. “Shel told you about that? You’d think I’d pulled out a rattler from the expression on her face. Don’t give the bastards an even chance, I say. You carry one out on the ranch, don’t you?”

  “A .22 semi auto pistol, takes long rifle cartridges so it’s lightweight but powerful enough. Doesn’t make as big a lump under my pillow when I’m campin,” he joked.

  “Thirty years ago when I was a teenager,” Mary told them, “there weren’t so many big animals out there. I know there’s lots more bears and wolves and mountain lions now. Especially bears along the cricks. I heard a story, when me and Dillon was first married, about a guy up in Choteau, I think it was, fought off a grizzly by puttin his arm down its throat. Damn thing gagged and spit him out. That’s too close for me!” Matt and Julia laughed with her at that, and Mary continued, “If Shel’s going t’ be around here for a while, Matt, you need t’ teach her t’ take care of herself.”

  Matt thought about that as the afternoon continued. By Montana standards he was a city boy. He’d been brought up in a town in South Dakota and spent most of his working life in construction in towns and small cities in the upper Midwest. The B.a. Ranch was his first time living and working in a truly rural setting, and he still marveled at the isolation of it. Maybe, he thought, Julia had a need to prove herself with that big .357, but Mary had lived on ranches all her life and was a very practical woman. She seemed to think of carrying a gun like insurance—maybe inconvenient, but when you need it, you’ll really be glad to have it. If she thought so, he’d better give Shel some basic training.

  Was taking that kind of responsibility for her getting too close? He certainly felt closer to her than any woman he’d known since Charlie’s mother. He’d been young and stupid then, but now he knew he wanted real companionship. Someone he could respect for herself, who would tell him what she thought. He liked Shel’s sense of humor, but he wondered from time to time if she was too private. She sure wasn’t private in bed, more along the lines of unbridled. He had very little idea what she did on her own time. He dismissed some of her political, social, and environmental opinions as Eastern, but maybe he should find out more about that side of her to see if they had any differences that might cause conflict.

  Shel, Dillon, and Arlen showed up around five, laughing and triumphant at having caught a half dozen fish apiece. Arlen and Dillon told the rest that, yes, Shel did have some fly-fishing experience, but she needed practice and the benefit of their vast knowledge, their insightful tutelage. They all spent a cheerful evening telling fish stories over dinner.

  **

  The next week was like the previous for Matt and his crew. Monday to Saturday, seven to six. “That’s the job for now, Shel,” he told her late in the week when she suggested he was working too hard. “There’s less t’ do in the winter. But for now, we got t’ do what needs doin. But I have t’ say this thing at the ant farm is drivin me crazy. I’ll be glad when it’s done. Next week I have t’ oversee a crew of cleaners going through the housing down there and help Janelle check out the kitchen. Did y’know she took the job?”

  “I heard. She’s pretty jazzed about it. I’ve heard, too, that August 21 is D Day for the project. Does it show up as a big caravan of cars and trucks all at once or just a cardboard box full of test tubes?”

  “Dunno. I think a few people might be here the fourteenth—that’s when the housing is supposed to be ready, but even that’s a rumor. PAS doesn’t tell us much.” He actually knew a few interesting things, but all the workers had been sworn to secrecy. He had installed some veterinary equipment that was lighter and smaller than the bison equipment, which had been put into storage. It looked to him to be designed for handling horses, not for cattle. There were some smaller tables, all stainless steel, motorized to raise and lower or tilt, that appeared custom built and more the size for ponies than horses. The original bison stalls in the main building were made from closely spaced thick steel bars with heavy-duty gates and locks. Now tops had been installed, and the walls above the gates were filled in with more bars—they had become cages. The fencing was still behind schedule, but the roofs for three of the enclosures should be complete ahead of schedule. They had a crew on each seven days a week. Arlen was working all hours, and all the ranch construction people were spending a night or two in the ant farm housing to save drive time. They would all be glad when Janelle had the kitchen running.

  “And still, nobody’s talking about what it’ll be? Not like they can hide it once it starts up,” said Shel conversationally. He was a little irritated—she never missed an opportunity to gossip about the project. What did it matter? Knowing in advance wouldn’t change anything. He just wanted it over and done.

  “It’ll get here when it gets here and maybe then we’ll know. I’m not supposed t’ talk, but I’m pretty sure it’s not about cattle or bison.”

  Chapter 11

  The next two weeks went by quickly for Shel. Matt was still extremely busy, and although Shel talked to him daily on her tab, she only saw him once during the week and then Saturday night through Sunday. He had come to her apartment again in Great Falls to escape the ranch, but this coming weekend he expected to work part of Sunday, so she and Julia were planning a ride and her first shooting lesson. Arlen was putting in as much time as Matt, so Julia too was on her own Saturday.

  Shel had passed word on to Colin of the veterinary equipment. She had learned from paperwork that crossed her desk that it came from Kentucky so she guessed it was designed for racehorses, but she had no real basis for that. Colin had dismissed the idea.

  “Not enough money in tinkering with horses, and nowadays they’d check a horse that had a wild winning streak anyways,” he’d said. He mentioned that Jimmy Bell already had a racehorse farm in Kentucky as well as the lion rescue ranch in Texas. “No,” Colin had concluded, “it’s got to be cattle. I’m going to send you a couple of ear punches.”

  “What?” she asked. This didn’t sound good.

  “It’s a tool that puts a nine millimeter hole in a cow’s ear so they can be tagged. But we’d want the chunk that comes out, to test it.”

  “You’re nuts, Colin!” Shel replied. “How many times have I told you I can’t even go there? And you want me to walk up to this animal—you don’t even know what kind—and bite its ear off?” She was stunned. The idea was outrageous.

  “We got to know what it is! It’s too late to stop it, but at least we can find out what they’re doing. They’ll probably just be calves anyway.” Shel didn’t know if that made the idea better or worse.

  She wasn’t a trained biologist and certainly not a cat burglar. Just reported back what she saw. With the approach of the delivery date, which she had of course passed on, Colin seemed to be getting more excited. Or nervous, she couldn’t tell.

  The ranch people liked to gossip. Shel was treated to innumerable stories of what the ranch had been like before Jimmy Bell, and how they had all reacted to the ants when those were born. It had been like a bolt from the blue—they were expecting something about cattle or bison research, not exotic creatures brought back from extinction. People were at first curious, then excited, proud, and when the project failed, saddened. Now, with a new project no one knew anything about, they were worried: What if this new project failed? Would that cause a management shake-up, or even a change of ownership? Either of those could put jobs at risk.

  Colin called again on Tuesday. It was unusual for him to call other than in response to a report, but the delivery date was a week away, and he was clearly stressed.

  “I’ve told you everything Colin. I just don’t know any more. Everybody here is anxious, waiting to see what will happen. If people found out what I’m doing they’d probably run me off the ranch on a rail.”

  Colin’s response was a patronizing snarl. “Why do you care? You’re just there because I sent you. I don’t know how you stand it out there in the middle of nowhere, nothing but dust and cows and wild animals.”

  “Thanks for the support. If I get fired how are you going to get your information?”

  “You don’t actually think you’re the only one we have on this do you? This is a big deal, and my people want results. We wouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. Get over yourself.”

  “You have other people here?” She was shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me? Maybe we could work together and get better information.” Shel had imagined herself like an explorer out in the trackless wilderness relaying her important news back to Colin. She had, at times, wondered at Colin’s knowledge of the ranch and its operations, but much of what he seemed to know could have come from public sources or simple aerial surveillance, she thought. He had never suggested anything that led her to think there were others closer to the operation.

  “If we’re going to have a chance to do anything about whatever it is AstroGene is planning we need information. I need you to get me information so this can be stopped!” He broke the connection. What a dickhead, thought Shel. It was her normal response after talking to Colin as she poured herself a drink. It’s one thing to work for a cause I believe in, but it sure would be easier if I didn’t have to deal with such a jerk.

  On Friday she found herself alone in the office. Steve was down at the farm, Tom was inspecting some of the hay and grain fields, and Bridget had gone shopping in Great Falls. She went to the kitchen and got a pair of the disposable gloves they used for food handling at the socials and went to Steve’s office. She draped a cloth over the camera lens at the top of his screen before walking around his desk to sit in his chair.

  The desk wasn’t locked. She went through the two file drawers and found a folder marked “research center project,” but all it contained were some schedule notes and a map of the new fence. Damn, it’s probably all electronic, she said to herself. In meetings he does everything on his tab. She touched the mouse on the desk, and his screen came on. It wasn’t locked, but when she tried the message center it asked for a password. She looked at the other icons. Oh my god! He has Galaxy Explorers. She would have laughed if she hadn’t been so tense. With no passwords and the data security she had already seen, she didn’t dare to snoop at random in his system. After a careful survey of the office to see if he had left anything just lying around—not likely she thought, he’s very neat and organized—she took the cloth off the screen and left. She tried Tom’s office, but the door was locked.

  **

  The next afternoon she and Julia were about a mile from the ranch headquarters in a small draw that served as the gun range, hoisting the bright-red flag that indicated the range was in use.

  Shel looked out on the wooden posts for hanging targets at distances of thirty to a hundred feet from a flat area with some wooden tables where the shooters stood. After she got past the initial shock of the noise and recoil of the gun that Julia provided, she settled in and focused on the mechanics of firing smoothly as Julia described and demonstrated. The gun—a .22 revolver with a three-inch barrel—held eight rounds. After she had fired a few full cylinders Shel was surprised at how comfortable she was with it, enjoying the power she felt. With the cylinder filled for the fourth time, she faced the target, held the gun in front of her with both hands, and with cold unflinching efficiency put all eight rounds into the target at forty feet.

  “Angry at somebody, Shel?” Julia asked, laughing a bit nervously. “Hope it’s no one I know.”

  That snapped Shel out of the trance she had been in while firing the weapon, imagining Colin Elliot as the target. She lowered the gun, shook herself as if with a chill, and turned to Julia. “Just trying to find the zone. Was that good?”

  “Shit yes,” replied Julia with an admiring grin. “You really never did this before?” Shel shook her head with mild confusion, still in shock from the experience of imagining putting eight bullets into Colin. “Pretty good first time then. Do fifty rounds every practice at this distance then start t’ move the targets out as you feel good about your accuracy.” Shel nodded and looked back at the row of target posts as her head cleared. “Longer barrel is more accurate but heavier. Get used t’ this then you can move up in weight and caliber. T’ be effective in this country you need t’ practice from a horse or on the run. The wolves won’t let you stop and plunk ’em at your own pace.”

  “OK. Should I do a few more? It’s kind of fun.” So they continued for an hour, trading the gun back and forth. When Shel’s arms began to tire, Julia drove them back to the admin building. Shel stopped in at the office to see if there were any messages. She felt a little guilty because Matt, Arlen, their crews, and some other ranch workers, were doing more overtime at the ant farm ahead of the twenty-first. After Tuesday it’ll mostly be over, she thought as she drove her car to Matt’s prefab.

  Matt arrived home at half past six, tired but not the most she’d seen in the last few weeks. “We knocked off early ’cause we’re doin a half day tomorrow, startin at eleven,” he told her. Shel felt very domestic, what with dinner cooking, the place tidied up, and an open beer to hand to Matt as he came in the door. All that was lacking was that she should be dressed in scanty lingerie instead of jeans and a plaid shirt. She saw Matt was amused at being pampered and fussed over and enjoying it too.

  He sat on the deck while Shel got the table ready, and as she walked by he reached out and squeezed one side of her butt gently but firmly. It broke her concentration and startled her. She turned and said, “Hey, cowboy, if you want to behave like that, you’ll have to go inside.” She did her best to make the glare she gave him look serious.

  “Is there another woman in there?” he asked with a grin.

  “No, you’ll just have to take care of yourself until I’m done.” She gave him a sly, sultry look and went in to get dinner. Later, as they were enjoying their meal in the lengthening shadows, she asked, “Anything new from the rumor mill today? Julia said Arlen’s been keeping his head down and working as fast as he can so he’s heard nothing.”

  “Me neither,” he replied. “Too busy t’ look up or around. There’s been some PAS people coming through since Wednesday, but all they know about is where t’ put stuff or how t’ hook up the equipment. They’re not sayin jack. How was shootin today? Hit anythin?” He sounded genuinely curious.

  “It was fun. She brought a .22 revolver.”

  “What kind? Single or double?” he interrupted.

  “She said it was a 317, I think? A .22 with single and double action. We started with single and then went to double. Once I got the feel of it I shot all eight bullets into the target in about thirty seconds!”

  “Pretty good for day one.”

  “Yeah, I imagined this guy from Boston I don’t like as the target. Probably not the best idea, but it worked. We were out there for over an hour.”

  “Do you want your own gun? I’ve got an extra .22 pistol in the safe in my closet y’can use.” He seemed amused, but Shel was cautious.

  “No, but thanks. It’s weird enough just having learned to fire a gun, I’m not ready to have my own. For the moment I’ll let my handsome riding instructor bring his weapon along.” She winked at him and grinned.

  They talked some more and eventually she saw he was drifting in and out of wakefulness so she sent him off to bathe while she did the kitchen. “Let me know when you’re done, I’ll dry you off,” she called out as he started the water. When he did, she came into the bathroom naked, which took him by surprise. “Well,” she told him as she pulled a dry towel off the rack, “I didn’t want you to think you were underdressed.” With that, and a smile, she started at his shoulders and worked her way down.

  **

  Matt worked on Sunday, and Shel went back to Great Falls. Her report to Colin was short and to the point:

  August 19, 2040

  Nothing new, everyone waiting.

  MP

  Monday the feeling among employees was electric with anticipation. In the evening she and Matt talked by video link, and Matt told her that Janelle had said she had been instructed to cook dinner for twenty on Tuesday, so tomorrow would definitely be the day. To hell with Colin, she thought, I’ll let him know when and if it actually happens.

  Tuesday morning about half past nine she and Bridget were in the ranch office making a pretense of working when in fact, like virtually every other employee, they were waiting for the news. Their desk monitors sounded the beep that indicated an incoming important message simultaneously. Seconds later their tabs did the same. Shel read the message that appeared on her screen:

  To: All B.a. Ranch employees

  From: J. Bell, Owner, The B.a. Ranch, Eden, MT

  As you may have heard there is a new project starting at the research center on the ranch. The project animals are being delivered today along with project staff. This project has been underway for some time at the Texas Lion Ranch (TLR), which I also own, near Midland, Texas.

  The TLR is dedicated to research on the modern lion, Panthera leo, which includes the familiar African Lion and six related subspecies. At the TLR we take in lions injured or sick in the wild, as well as from zoos and other display or exhibition businesses like circuses, with two main goals: to coordinate a breeding program with many zoos and wildlife habitats around the world, and to provide a safe and healthful retirement for aging lions. Part of both these efforts is an ongoing research program that contributes to our knowledge of these seriously endangered animals and providing for their continued survival in the wild as well as in captivity.

  This project includes several adult lions and a dozen juveniles aged ten months to thirty months. It will be supervised by Pleistocene Animal Sciences, our research partner.

  Many of you have had a heavy added workload at the research center helping to get it ready for our new residents, and I truly appreciate the outstanding work and serious effort you have put into the new project. These improvements will provide a superior and highly secure environment for the lions and the researchers.