They watched the monkeys silently for a few minutes, then Jerry Harris turned away. "Well, back to the grind, I suppose," he sighed.
They were no more than five steps from the big cage when they heard a loud screech of pure animal fury and both men spun around to see a large male-almost a third larger than any of the others-reach out and grab one of the smaller males around the neck. Its eyes glittering with rage, the larger one sank its teeth into the smaller one's shoulder, and then, as the smaller one began to scream in agony, the larger animal began shaking it.
Blake stared at the two monkeys in shock, but Jerry Harris instantly reached out and hit a button on the wall. A loud bell began to ring, the doors at the far end of the room flew open, and three attendants came running toward them.
"The hose!" Harris called. "Bring the hose!"
While two of the attendants advanced toward the cage, the third wheeled back and disappeared for a moment. When he returned, he was clutching the nozzle of a fire hose that snaked out behind him.
The smaller of the two monkeys was already dying, blood spurting from the torn artery in its neck. But the bigger one, apparently oblivious to the crimson fluid with which it was being drenched, kept shaking the body of the smaller one.
Finally, the attacker dropped the limp body of its victim to the floor of the cage. Grasping the now-dead creature by its feet, he began swinging it around, maniacally smashing its head against the bars of the cage.
Fighting down a wave of nausea, Blake turned away from the gruesome spectacle, but Jerry Harris, his face ashen and his jaw tight, kept watching, directing the activities of the three attendants.
"Turn on the water," he shouted. "He'll drop it as soon as you hit him."
The blast of water nearly knocked the attendant who was holding the nozzle off his feet. But as Harris had predicted, the large monkey, still screaming with rage, dropped the corpse of its victim. Immediately he was pinned against the bars at the far end of the cage.
While the attendant with the hose kept the animal immobile with the pounding stream of water, another quickly fired a tranquilizing dart into the raging creature. Not more than three seconds later the large monkey slumped to the floor.
"Jesus," Blake breathed when it was all over. "What the hell happened in there?"
Harris hesitated a moment while he seemed to regain control of himself. As the attendants began the work of herding the rest of the troop into the sleeping quarters behind the main portion of the cage so they could remove the bodies of the two fallen monkeys, he took Blake's arm and drew him toward the door.
"It happens sometimes," he said, his voice quavering. "Something happens to an animal when it's kept in a cage. It might seem perfectly normal for years, but then, all of a sudden, it can just go berserk." He glanced at Blake. "Haven't you ever seen the big cats pacing back and forth in a zoo? Especially in the small cages? Well, I don't think they're just exercising. If you ask me, they've just gone completely psychotic. They'd be better off dead."
They were back in Jerry Harris's office before Blake spoke again. "If you feel that way," he said, "then how can you stand to know that every one of those animals back there is going to die in our labs?"
Harris managed a thin smile. "It's my job," he said, a trace of bitterness apparent in his voice. "And I keep telling myself that the research we do, and the lives we might save, are worth what we're doing to the animals."
Blake thought about it for a moment, then slowly nodded. "And what am I doing out here?" he finally asked. "From what I've seen, you don't need a marketing man at all."
Apparently relieved to have the subject changed, Jerry Harris tossed a file across his desk to Blake. "You're going to be doing a lot," he said. "You're going to know every facet of what's going on out here, and even if you don't understand the technology-which I don't, myself-you're at least going to know what we're trying to do. You've always been good with people, Blake, and whether you agree or not, that's what marketing is all about. Showing people why they need what you have. Out here, of course, you'll be doing a lot of what you might call public relations as well. And you can start with that." Harris nodded toward the file, and Blake picked it up. He opened it curiously, and was surprised to find that it was a medical file.
It was the file on Ricardo Ramirez.
Puzzled, Blake Tanner gazed questioningly at Jerry Harris.
"TarrenTechwill be picking up every one of the medical costs for that boy," Harris told him. "Whatever he needs- surgeons, specialists, physical therapists-the works."
Blake smiled cynically, certain he understood. "On the theory that it can't cost more than a lawsuit," he commented. But to his surprise, Harris shook his head.
"There won't be any lawsuit," he said. "No grounds. It was clearly an accident." He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "We're in a unique situation here, Blake," he said. "Silverdale was a tiny town when we arrived.TarrenTech came in and changed everything. Essentially, we rebuilt the town from scratch, right down to the schools and library. There was some opposition at first, but we asked the people who were here to trust us, and they did. And we've never failed in that trust." He pointed to the file in Blake's hands. "Legally, no one in Silverdale is responsible for what happened to that boy. But that isn't going to help him, is it?"
Blake shifted in his seat, feeling suddenly embarrassed about his own cynicism of a moment ago. "No," he agreed, "I don't suppose it is."
Harris's voice took on a heavy note of authority. "So as far as I personally, and this company as an entity, are concerned, since the accident happened here, we have a moral responsibility. Ricardo Ramirez will be taken care of, and there will be no cutting of corners. Whatever he needs, he'll get, and for as long as he needs it. If it comes to the worst, the company is prepared to set up a permanent annuity for him." Once again his eyes met Blake's. "His mother says Rick intends to be a doctor when he grows up. He has the grades for it, and he seems to have the drive as well." He paused for a moment, then went on. "Keep that in mind when you start thinking about how to set up a trust. I should imagine a boy like Rick would have treated his mother pretty well, all things considered. In the event that he can't, we will."
Blake Tanner blinked. The implications of what Jerry Harris was saying could be enormous. "Have you talked to Ted Thornton about this?" he asked.
Harris smiled thinly. "I didn't have to," he said. "It's Ted's policy. And it's a policy," he added, "that I happen to be in one-hundred-percent agreement with.TarrenTech made this town. We are, one way or another, responsible for everything that happens here. And we don't shirk that responsibility."
When he left Harris's office that morning, Blake Tanner had a new respect for the company-and the people-he worked for. Silverdale, he was beginning to suspect, was not simply going to be a new step in his career.
It might very well change his life.
Mark Tanner found himself walking home alone after school. He had waited in front of the building for Linda Harris for twenty minutes, and when she hadn't shown up, he'd finally wandered around to the back. Just as he'd rounded the corner of the building, the door from the boys' locker room had flown open and the football squad, dressed in practice gear, had trotted out onto the playing field. He'd called out to Robb Harris, but either Robb hadn't heard him or had chosen to ignore him. He was about to call out again when the coach appeared and Mark realized that perhaps neither had been true. For as the coach had approached the squad, all of whom were standing in a neat formation, he had suddenly stopped and glared at one of the boys in the rear rank.
"Fifty push-ups!" he'd shouted. "Now!"
As Mark watched, the boy had immediately dropped to the ground and begun pumping his body up and down. It wasn't until he'd already completed ten of the push-ups that Mark realized what the boy's infraction had been.