Page 66 of Wired Target

Torufu glanced over at Lei as they neared the windswept wild area of the sanctuary, only half an hour from downtown Kahului.Their eyes met; his were sparkling, and Lei answered with a dimple.“Good day?”

“The best day.”

That little exchange was left over from when they’d worked bomb squad together; every day they hadn’t had an explosive was the best day.

Dr.Powers met them in the familiar dirt parking lot.She was accompanied by Mahmoud Gadish; the two got out of the biologist’s truck.Lei hid surprise that the widower had the wherewithal to come so quickly after losing his wife.

Lei approached the pair, Torufu at her back carrying the red cooler.

“I’m so deeply sorry for your loss.”Though not a hugger, she opened her arms on impulse.Gadish stepped into them, releasing a deep, shuddering sigh as he embraced her.“Your wife should have been here with us to return these precious eggs.”

Gadish stepped back, and she saw a glimmer of the fanatical light Sari had shown in talking about the albatrosses.“She could be with us, even now, in one of those eggs.”

Lei dropped her gaze, unable to come up with a response.

Torufu stepped up to grip the man’s shoulder.“I’m sorry for your loss.Glad you could join us this morning.”

“The birds are in mourning, but they haven’t left their nests,” Dr.Powers said.The biologist wore a safari hat and was slung about with gear.“Follow me and we will drop an egg off at each one of the nests.”She patted her camera case.“To document the reunion.”

“Are you sure the eggs are still good?”Lei frowned, pointing to the cooler.“Shouldn’t we verify they’re live, or something?”

Dr.Powers opened the lid of the cooler and checked the temperature with a hand.“Looks like those kids did their homework.If the eggs were kept at an even temperature within the range they can survive, they should be okay.If not, they will fail to hatch—and that is a more normal process than having an egg stolen for the parent birds.You’ll see what I mean when we reach the nesting area.”

Lei and Torufu followed the two sanctuary board members down the now-familiar trail into the reservation area, and through the gate.This time, they turned left and took a different path than the one that had led to the crashed drone.

Lei pointed to the security cameras atop the fence.“Those working all right?”

“They sure are.Could use help monitoring them, though—we’ve had to fix a couple already.They’re pretty weather-sensitive,” the biologist said over her shoulder.

Around a large boulder, sheltered from the wind beneath a bush, stood a couple of albatrosses.The mated pair were close together, their heads resting on each other’s breasts.They seemed to be leaning on each other.

Lei covered her mouth with her hand—their pose was so touching.The emotion in it mirrored the grief and love she and Stevens had shared when she lost their baby at four months into the pregnancy.She blinked away tears, watching as Torufu set down the cooler.

The doc, sliding her hands into leather mitts, reached into the container, and picked up one of the carefully wrapped eggs.“I’m wearing gloves, so my scent and skin oils won’t contaminate the shell,” she explained, removing the toweling the boys had wrapped around the egg.“It looks like they took care with these.”

“Protecting their investment, the little jerks,” Torufu growled.

“Quiet now,” the doc hushed.She crouched low, holding the egg, which was about the size of a mango, on her open palm.

The birds, large enough to do damage if they chose to with their heavy wings and long, razor-sharp bills, separated and watched closely but without fear as Dr.Powers approached and set the egg gently into the empty nest.

“Now, if only they accept it,” Gadish said.

“If only,” Lei echoed.

The biologist backed away, gesturing for the group to get behind the boulder, out of sight.

Lei, Torufu, Gadish and Dr.Powers hunkered down, but peeked around the boulder to watch as the birds investigated the egg.They walked over to the nest, clacking their beaks in agitation, for all the world as if speaking to each other—and then, after reaching in to adjust the egg’s position, one of them stepped into the nest and gently lowered itself to sit with the egg tucked between its feet, cushioned by the thick feathers of its breast.

The other bird, still chattering, preened, and then settled carefully beside its mate, smoothing dazzling white feathers over the poufy spot where the egg nestled with its beak.

Tears welled in Lei’s eyes.“That’s just so damn beautiful.”

Everyone agreed.

The group repeated the process two more times and were able to see the parent albatrosses accept the eggs.

When Lei and Torufu got back into his truck with the empty cooler, they exchanged a smile once more.

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