Matthew Reilly - The Great Zoo of China

It was stunning.

Lunch was served.

Hu said, ‘The menu is by Gordon Ramsay. He is very popular in China. The Chinese people consider him to be a—what is the phrase—a lovable rogue.’

While the more important guests—Ambassador Syme, Seymour Wolfe and Aaron Perry—sat with Hu Tang and Zhang at one end of the table, CJ found herself eating alongside the ambassador’s aide, Greg Johnson. She’d almost forgotten Johnson was even there, he’d been so silent on the cable car ride. It was like he had professionally blended into the background.

‘What do you think so far?’ Johnson asked as they ate.

CJ said, ‘I think this place is going to make China the tourist destination of the world. In one hit, it blows Disneyland, Disney World and the Grand Canyon out of the water. What about you?’

Johnson shrugged. ‘It’s pretty awesome. Although, having said that, I must admit I’m curious.’

‘About what?’ CJ said, popping some buttered broccoli into her mouth.

‘About what your single question is,’ Johnson said.

CJ stopped chewing and eyed the ambassador’s aide closely. Johnson stared straight back at her, his dark eyes narrowed, focused, evaluating, and she wondered what kind of aide he really was.

Johnson let the moment pass and smiled. ‘How about this view, huh?’

With a final glance at Johnson, CJ looked out at the view. It was incredible. What the Chinese had done was remarkable—not only had they bred ancient animals, they had sculpted the very landscape to accommodate them.

As she turned away from the view, she saw two people get up from another table. It was the only other table in the restaurant that was occupied—by a Chinese man and a younger Chinese woman—and now they were in the process of leaving.

The woman, in her early twenties, wore a skirt-suit and looked very nervous. The man was short and a little on the plump side. He wore a red Great Dragon Zoo of China polo shirt and, unusually for a Chinese man, he had a long ponytail.

‘No way,’ CJ breathed. ‘It couldn’t be. Go-Go?’ she called.

The man turned at the name. He saw CJ and his face broke out in a delighted grin.

‘Why, if it isn’t the lovely and talented Cassandra Jane Cameron!’ he exclaimed in a twee voice as he rushed over.

CJ stood and they embraced warmly. He didn’t so much as glance at the scarring on her face.

‘So? What do you think of this place?’ he said. ‘Is it not… is it not … the biggest mind-fuck in history?’

CJ laughed. Go Guan had always been like this: short, loud and supergay. A huge fan of Shanghai nightclubs, his nickname, Go-Go, had come naturally.

‘It’s certainly blowing my mind,’ CJ said.

Go-Go stepped back from her. ‘God, look at you, girl! You are smoking hot! How do you get your butt so perfect? I do these squat classes at the gym, but look at my ass—look at it—it’s still the sad, sagging derriere of a fat little Chinaman. Urgh! What are you doing here?’

‘Doing a piece for Nat Geo . What about you? I haven’t seen you since you were working for me, stealing eggs from alligator nests on the Yangtze River and running from their angry mothers.’

‘I’ve moved up in the world, honey babe,’ Go-Go said. ‘Working for Ben Patrick in the Birthing Centre. This place needs every expert and grad student it can get.’ He indicated the young woman standing discreetly nearby. ‘I’m doing lunches all week with the successful candidates. Goodness me, no-one’s called me Go-Go in years. It’s so great to see you. Listen, I have to run. Maybe we can grab a sneaky chardonnay after your tour’s done.’

‘Sure,’ CJ said.

Go-Go and the young woman left and CJ returned to the table as Seymour Wolfe said, ‘It must have taken a small army of labourers to build this place. How did you feed them and house them while they built it?’

Hu gestured to the northeast: ‘If you look out that way, you will just make out the rooftops of some buildings.’

CJ and the others looked in that direction and, sure enough, over the top of the northeastern corner of the valley, they could just see the roofs of what looked like a dozen tall apartment buildings.

‘That was our worker city,’ Hu Tang said. ‘It was a complete small-scale city, with residential buildings, gymnasiums, food markets, parks, even sporting grounds. Our workers lived there while they fashioned this valley out of the natural landscape.’

‘Was?’ Perry asked.

‘Now the city is largely empty—our animal keepers live there in just one building—but we maintain all the empty neighbourhoods because the city’s usefulness is not exhausted. When our wonderful zoo opens to the world, it is going to need another small army to operate it: tour guides, hotel staff, cleaning and custodial staff, and they will need somewhere to live.’

While the others marvelled at the ready-made city outside the valley, CJ gazed out at a nearby, smaller pinnacle to the east.

A gigantic grey emperor dragon lounged on a ledge high up on the peak. Flanked by a few grey princes, it turned suddenly and looked right at CJ, right into her eyes.

Hu Tang caught her looking.

‘Dr Cameron,’ he said gently. ‘Are you all right? Is there something worrying you?’ He seemed genuinely concerned. ‘Are you perhaps ready to ask your question?’

CJ turned to find the whole table looking at her expectantly. It seemed as if everyone was interested in hearing her question. She made eye contact with Greg Johnson: he seemed especially attentive.

‘Okay,’ she said. ‘But you might not like it.’

‘Please,’ Hu encouraged. ‘We are happy to answer any query you might have.’

‘All right,’ CJ said, turning fully in her chair. ‘Mr Hu, exactly how many people have your dragons killed so far?’

Hu looked like he had been slapped in the face. ‘How many—what? How many people have they killed ? Why would you ask that?’

‘Because from everything you’ve told us so far, this animal is perhaps the greatest predator this world has ever seen,’ CJ said. ‘Everything about it indicates that it is a killing machine with no equal on this planet except for perhaps the Great White Shark.’

She counted off on her fingers: ‘Deep broad nostrils for sniffing out prey. Those ampullae on its snout, they don’t just sniff out electricity, they are designed to detect the bioelectrical distress emitted by the rapid beating of a wounded animal’s heart. Those wings are for chasing prey, those claws are for grabbing prey and those fangs are for eating prey.

‘Evolution is a master craftsman, Mr Hu. Over millions of years, it has designed this creature for one purpose and one purpose only: to be an apex predator. Given their size, these dragons could be more than that: they could be the ultimate apex predator. They are built to do three things: hunt, kill and eat. Like crocodiles and alligators, that is what they do . That is why they exist . And these animals are smart: hell, you’ve managed to train a few of them. Hence my question. How many people have they killed already?’

Hu Tang did not say anything at first. He pursed his lips.

‘None,’ he said stiffly. ‘There has not been a single injury or fatality at this zoo caused by a dragon. And we intend to keep it that way.’