Matthew Reilly - The Great Zoo of China

CJ grinned. ‘You are one tough chick, you know that, Lucky?’

‘ Lucky no understand White Head …’

‘White Head like Lucky.’

The dragon nuzzled CJ. ‘ Lucky like White Head …’

CJ then got Lucky to test her wings and the dragon proved able to fly. Not exactly powerfully; it was more gliding than flying, but it was enough.

And so, soon after, they were soaring over the forests and rock formations of southern China, heading back toward the zoo.

The sun had risen fully by the time CJ and Lucky beheld the vast rectangular crater containing the Great Dragon Zoo of China.

In the harsh light of day, the amount of damage that the dragons had done to the zoo was simply astonishing. Columns of black smoke rose from numerous sites around the megavalley, from smashed helicopters and destroyed buildings. The revolving restaurant at the top of Dragon Mountain had literally been ripped apart. Its two levels yawned open to the elements.

At 6:20 a.m., CJ keyed her radio to channel 20. ‘Bear? You out there? Bear, come in?’

Static… then: ‘ I hear you, Chipmunk. ’

‘Are you good?’

‘ Lying low after a shitstorm of a battle but not in enemy hands yet. Whatever you did, sis, it worked. The dragons are contained. The outer dome is working. I’m gonna guess that whatever you got up to was character building? ’

‘You better fucking believe it,’ CJ said. ‘What about the Chinese? What are they doing now?’

‘ They suffered heavy casualties, but those who are left are on the move. Saw a fleet of jeeps zoom in toward the zoo ten minutes ago. What do we do now, Chipmunk? ’

CJ was thinking the same thing. ‘Now we have to find a way out of this place—’

‘ CJ? ’ Another voice came on the line. A male voice, speaking in English. ‘ CJ, is that you? It’s Ben Patrick .’

Patrick, CJ thought. She’d last seen him in the revolving restaurant, when he’d said she was crazy to be going into the Nesting Centre.

‘Ben? Where are you?’ she said.

‘ I’m at the main entrance building. On the roof. I came over on a maintenance cable car. I can’t believe you’re still alive .’

‘Only just.’

‘ CJ, the zoo is under control again, which means the Chinese are about to go into serious damage control ,’ Patrick said. ‘ They’ll kill all of us now to keep this disaster a secret. It’s time to get the hell out of here and I know a way out . If you’re still riding your yellow friend, meet me on the roof of the main entrance building as soon as you can .’

CJ thought about that. ‘Okay. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Bear?’

‘ Yeah? ’ Hamish’s voice replied.

‘I’ll contact you shortly.’

CJ and Lucky made two stops on their way to the main entrance building: the first was at the Birthing Centre, where they picked up Minnie. CJ grabbed a portable surgical kit from the infirmary there: scalpels, stitches, anaesthetic, cleaning alcohol. She also took the opportunity to clean and restitch Lucky’s new wound with a sterilised needle and proper thread. She finished by giving the dragon a shot of epinephrine to make sure her heart rate and blood pressure stayed up.

Then, with Minnie riding pillion, they took off.

Their second pause was a quick stopover at the mountainside monastery on the eastern side of the zoo where Lucky’s pack of yellowjackets lived.

CJ, Minnie and Lucky arrived to find Lucky’s family very agitated by recent events, but after a short series of barked communications between Lucky and her pack, CJ performed a quick surgical operation on each of the four other yellowjacket dragons: on their left eyes.

Then CJ and Lucky, with Minnie, took to the air again and headed for the main entrance building.

The colossal main entrance building still stood at the southern end of the valley, but it was not looking its best.

The huge white building had been assaulted at some point by the rampaging dragons: many of its windows were shattered. The large eye-like circular window of the master control room had been smashed and the control room now lay empty, trashed and blood-smeared.

Suddenly, lights began to wink on all over the building… and all over the zoo. The Chinese must have driven the airfield’s cable repair truck to the waste management facility and reconnected the internal main there.

As she soared in toward the main entrance building from high above, CJ saw the broad sunken amphitheatre on its roof, the same amphitheatre in which she had first seen Lucky.

And there, standing on the amphitheatre’s wide central stage, was a figure.

Ben Patrick, and he was waving.

Lucky landed on the stage a short distance from Patrick. CJ and Minnie dismounted.

A light breeze blew. The vast valley stretched northward behind CJ. It would have been a postcard shot, gorgeous in the early morning light, had it not been for all the fires and wreckage.

CJ began to walk toward Patrick—when suddenly Lucky nudged her and grunted.

‘ Lucky… no like… Big Eyes. Big Eyes mean human …’

CJ paused, glancing from the dragon to her old colleague, and for a brief instant she wondered if she had made a huge mist—

‘CJ,’ Patrick said. ‘Thanks for coming. I’m so sorry.’

CJ frowned. ‘You’re sorry? Why—?’

The answer stepped out from a door beside the stage: Colonel Bao, Hu Tang and three Chinese soldiers brandishing assault rifles.

Before CJ could react, Ben Patrick whipped out a Taser unit—like the ones she had seen in the observation booth in the Nesting Centre—and jammed it against Lucky’s flank. Sparks flew and Lucky dropped to her knees, squealing in agony.

CJ slid to the dragon’s side, staring daggers up at Patrick.

She suddenly recalled the code he had given her to open the safe in the Nesting Centre… and how it hadn’t worked.

‘You gave me the wrong code for the safe in Bao’s office, didn’t you?’ she said. Beside her, Lucky moaned. Minnie huddled behind her.

Patrick shrugged. ‘To be honest, I didn’t think you’d get that far. But I couldn’t have you getting your hands on a detonator unit. There’s too much riding on this place. For China and for me. This zoo will make me the most famous scientist in the world, CJ. I couldn’t have you succeed in killing the dragons. No matter what damage is sustained here, we cannot lose the dragons. Too much time and effort has gone into raising them. Buildings can be rebuilt, but those dragons are priceless. And they can always be retrained, no matter how harshly. The Chinese will rebuild this zoo, we will reintroduce the surviving dragons with new and better safety measures, and it will be like nothing ever happened.’

Colonel Bao and Hu Tang stepped up beside Patrick.

Hu Tang said, ‘And we will bring new journalists here to marvel at it.’