Steve Alten - Vostok

“I didn’t know— no comment. Dr. Liao, perhaps we’d better—”

“Mr. McFarland, is it?”

“How did you know that?”

“You’re a guest at the Lair. Records show ye work for Stone Aerospace. With all the drones yer company builds, how would ye go about locating a second monster trapped in Loch Ness?”

“That depends. How big is Loch Ness?”

“Twenty-four miles long, a mile wide, and six hundred feet deep. Deeper still in Nessie’s grotto where Zachary Wallace confronted the last monster.”

“I’m not sure. Underwater drones perhaps.”

“Dr. Ahmed, I understand your field of expertise involves extinct species. Is there a chance this new species could be a plesiosaur?”

“None at all. Again, there’s no need for conjecture once your experts perform a proper necropsy on this animal.”

Angus interjected. “Then a necropsy could help determine the new monster’s species?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then you agree Loch Ness has a second monster?”

“Yes. I mean, no. I mean no comment!”

Fifteen hours later, an exhausted Ming Liao and her three male associates found themselves in line at the airport in Inverness, waiting to pass through customs. Having barely slept, Liao had spent the better part of the morning arranging for her office in Beijing to wire five thousand U.S. dollars into a Bank of Scotland account belonging to one Angus Wallace. The inebriated Scot had kept her up until dawn, reassuring her that his son would sign commitment papers before the weekend was out, but that his power of persuasion needed persuading. They finally agreed that Angus would receive an additional ten thousand dollars once Liao had received a notarized signed agreement, which was a far cry from the fifty thousand the Scot had demanded at dinner.

The finder’s fees were not unexpected. Had she been dealing with the Saudis, Russians, or her own people, the price would have been triple. Dr. Zachary Wallace’s name carried a lot of weight among investors in both the private sector and the Chinese government, and if bribing the marine biologist’s father secured his six-month commitment to the project, then so be it. While negotiations were Liao’s forte, it was her ability to source private and state funding for the Vostok expedition while working with scientists and engineers in both the United States and Australia that ensured she would not be usurped as project director — that and the fact that her biggest donor insisted she make the descent. Dealing with an unsophisticated kilt-wearing buffoon like Angus Wallace was nothing compared to appeasing the heads of private family-run corporations whose combined investment in the Vostok expedition exceeded a billion dollars.

Stepping up to the immigration officer, she handed the man her passport and airline ticket.

“Quick in and oot, eh, Dr. Liao?”

“Excuse me?”

“Won’t ask ye if ye have anything tae declare. I think ye said enough already.”

“I’m sorry, but what are you referring to?”

The Scot stamped her passport and handed it back with a wry smile. “No worries, lass. A nod’s as guid as a wink tae a blind horse. Pleasant flight.”

Perplexed, she continued on to her gate, where her companions had their noses buried in the morning paper. George McFarland was shaking his head. Dr. Ahmed’s eyes were wide, filled with outrage. Only Ben Hintzmann seemed amused by what he was reading.

“What is it?”

Dr. Ahmed handed her his newspaper. “Wallace’s father set us up.”

Liao glanced at the front page of the Inverness Courier . Below the emboldened headlines was a color photo taken of Dr. Ahmed hovering over the bloodied carcass of the mutilated elk.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF SCIENTISTS CONFIRM A NEW MONSTER LURKS IN LOCH NESS

Inverness, Scotland (Associated Press)

Nessie may be gone, but the legendary monster that once inhabited Loch Ness appears to have left behind a hungry relative. According to eyewitnesses, a large water creature has been spotted stalking deer as they cross the waterway at night.

The monster’s latest kill occurred sometime Thursday evening. Invermoriston resident Esther Jacobs said she was walking along the shoreline of Loch Ness around sunset when she saw a disturbance in the water some twenty meters away. She later discovered the remains of a 290kg male elk washed ashore on the western bank, its hindquarters devoured in what appeared to be a single bite. “It was gruesome,” said Jacobs. “Thankfully this particular monster prefers to stay in the water, or my life might have been in danger.”

Dr. Rehan Ahmed, a marine biologist specializing in ancient sea creatures, was on hand to examine the kill. He agreed that this particular species probably measured more than twelve meters, but preferred not to speculate on whether it could be a plesiosaur. Ahmed and his colleague, Dr. Ming Liao, had arrived in the Highlands Tuesday evening from Antarctica for a special conference at Loch Ness’s new five-star resort, Nessie’s Lair. They were joined by George McFarland, an engineer out of Texas who works for Stone Aerospace. McFarland suggested underwater drones might be the best way to identify the species of this new Loch Ness Monster, though Esther Jacobs and other eyewitnesses claim the creature is not shy about surfacing by day. Said Ms. Jacobs, “With the tourist season approaching, it’s just a matter of time before someone videotapes the beastie.”

Liao gritted her teeth. “Bastard even managed to get in the name of his hotel.”

“This isn’t just a local story,” George said. “Those reporters last night spoon-fed this to the Associated Press. Our names are all over this.”

“Once I get the signed agreement from Dr. Wallace, it won’t matter. His presence at Vostok will quash this story.”

Ben chuckled. “Wake up, Ming. Zachary Wallace lost his nerve years ago. He has no intention of signing on to Vostok or any other underwater expedition, and his old man knows it. Angus Wallace played you; he planned this whole Loch Ness Monster story the moment we landed.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Tourism died with the monster, and last night the three of you helped bring it back to life. While you thought you were wooing Angus, the old man was baiting you, distracting you with false promises to get you to Invermoriston to see that carcass. Your presence last night served to validate the hoax and give his story legs — no pun intended. And the beautiful part is you paid him five thousand dollars to do it.”

There is a saying among Highlanders that translates to “a tale never loses in the telling.” Angus must have repeated his tale a hundred times that first week, relishing how he had conned the “Asian harlot” out of five thousand U.S. dollars while priming the pump of tourism in the Great Glen.

To keep the momentum going, the Highland Council voted to use an infusion of grant money coming from British Parliament to install thirty visitor perches around Loch Ness. Each ten-foot-high covered platform would house three high-powered mounted telescopic cameras that ould allow tourists to snap downloadable photos of anything that crossed the lens of their viewport. Meanwhile, Alexander MacDonald, the Council’s new provost (and second cousin to Brandy and True) held a press conference to announce an international symposium, scheduled to convene at my father’s resort April 15 through April 22 to determine what this aggressive new species was. The Council extended invitations to marine biologists, cryptozoologists, and amateur monster hunters from around the world, with all resort guests receiving free passage aboard nocturnal voyages that would attempt to film the creature feeding on deer as the herds crossed the loch.