Page 72 of In Darkness and Dank

So much had changed at the lagoon in such a short amount of time, but the goal was to keep it as undisturbed as possible while still allowing research to proceed. While the Rife welcomed their human guests and were happy to entertain them, they still needed their privacy for special events and quality time with their family without being put under a microscope. It was a massive undertaking to coordinate, but it was vital for peace at the sanctuary.

That was Kittisak’s job.

Like Browning and Zimm, Kittisak had been given a special employment opportunity through Bio-Minex to serve as the official ambassador to the Rife people. He was now in charge of scheduling how many researchers could be present at the sanctuary at one time and keeping track of the Rife’s day-to-day calendar of events.

Bal’s celebration for Hue’s first howl, an important event for young Rife that usually happened within the first few months of life, had to be set so it wouldn’t conflict with the impending hatching of the second child of Mawal’s, one of Shu’s other sisters. Kula wanted Zimm to be with her when they made a new moon feast, so they had to work out the patrol schedule to make sure Zimm could come. Then there was the ever-pressing issue of pozzo because every full moon ever was going to be spoken for as Shu’s sisters would be very busy with their mates.

The male Rife were much smaller than their female counterparts, though still quite large compared to a human. They shared the responsibilities of raising the children and hunting, and Mawal’s mate, Ghin, was a talented painter. Once Bal learned the concept of family cookouts, she wanted to have one at least monthly. Now the owner of an actual grill, also courtesy of Bio-Minex, Kittisak was happy to cook for these special events, and Ghin painted a large mural of them all on the rocks over by the waterfall.

Shu thought the painting was very pretty, but he swore the fish tasted better when it had been cooked on a car grill.

The car grill was long gone though, and in its place was another private bungalow Bio-Minex had built for Kittisak and Shu. A balcony overlooked the pool by the waterfall, and a small dock led out into the water with a ladder to get back up. It was ridiculously posh, and it even had electricity thanks to solar panels, but Kittisak still preferred sleeping in the underwater cave with Shu’s collection of treasure.

There were some amenities, however, that were pretty damn awesome.

Like being able to call his parents whenever he wanted on the fancy new satellite phone included with the bungalow.

“Hey, Mom!” Kittisak was walking out on the dock, phone in hand. “How are you? How’s Dad?”

“Oh, we’re good, we’re good,” she replied, a smile in her voice. “I just saw the new feature about you and the Rife on the Discovery Channel. And oh! I ran into Mrs. Lin at the grocery store, you know.”

“Yeah? Did you guys brawl about her roses coming over your side of the fence again?”

“No, no.” His mother huffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure.” Kittisak grinned.

Shu was somewhere in the pool, but he was deep enough that Kittisak could only see a faint shadow zipping around.

“I happened to mention you discovered the new species, the Rife, while you were out on your honors field trip—”

“You know I was about to fail.” Kittisak rolled his eyes affectionately. “We’ve been over this. I told you and Dad what happened.”

“Yes, yes, I know. But let me tell the story my way. But yes, I told her you discovered the new species, and she insisted on telling me about her son getting a new car. Ha!” She laughed. “As if that was somehow more impressive.”

“Uh-huh.”

“My son is on the cover of magazines and newspapers! You had an interview in National Geographic! And she’s proud of a Mini Cooper. Can you believe it? Hmmph.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Kittisak soothed. “Mrs. Lin is allowed to be proud of her kid too, and you two have been fighting over this silly stuff for years. I’m pretty sure you’ve officially won the battle of who has the coolest kid though, and she’s just in denial.”

His mother sighed. “Well, I wish she would just admit it.”

Kittisak chuckled. “Sorry, Mom.”

“How are you? How’s Shu?”

“Good! We’re good. He’s swimming right now, looking for lunch. We’re gonna start watching The Little Mermaid today if I can get the DVD player to work.”

“Oh, he hasn’t seen it?”

“No, Mom. He’s lived in the rainforest all of his life. He hasn’t seen anything, remember?”

“Sorry, hmm. I keep forgetting. Oh! Did you get our package yet?”

“Sure did.” Kittisak looked down at the bright green swimming trunks he was currently wearing. “The trunks with the turtles on surfboards are very hip, thank you.”

“They fit, yes? Send me a picture. I wanna see how they fit.”

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