In the deep jungles of Peru far from any known civilization, a black 
jaguar lay full length on the branch of a rubber tree. The jaguar had 
a scarred face, and was a heavy, full grown male. The beast was 
licking the last of the blood from his earlier kill when he suddenly 
heard the noise of approaching humans. From his safe vantage point 
Jim watched a man with blondish brown hair wearing khaki pants and 
shirt push his way through the brush. 
 
Jim Ellison squinted his jaguar eyes. The man looked familiar, but 
Jim couldn't really place the face. Wondering what a white man was 
doing on the edges of Chopec territory, Jim stood and made his way 
down the tree to a lower branch. 
 
Some four years before, Detective James Ellison, a man with 
heightened senses known as a sentinel, had been mortally wounded by a 
cop killer who had happened to be one of the other detectives who 
worked with Jim in the Major Crimes Department of Cascade, 
Washington. Since the killer's next victim was to be Blair Sandburg, 
Jim’s partner, friend, and Guide, Jim had chosen to return from the 
spirit plane into the body of a black jaguar. Jim had then proceeded 
to find Blair, to discover he had the ability to communicate 
telepathically with humans. He had killed the cop killer and saved 
his partner who in turn had worked diligently to have Jaime, the 
jaguar whose body Jim's spirit now inhabited, released from the zoo 
into the jungles of Peru. It had taken a year, but it had been done, 
and Jim had lived in the jungle for three years living out the 
natural lifespan of the jaguar. 
 
As Jim made his way down the tree he spotted two more people enter 
the clearing. One had a video camera on his shoulder with a light 
mounted on the top. The light wasn't on, but the camera was 
recording. A woman wearing khaki colored clothes walked beside the 
cameraman. 
 
"Will you look at him. What a beauty!" The man said. The camera man 
turned the camera toward Jim who was now in view of the people. Jim 
had recognized the people as harmless. "Jaguars are an endangered 
species, and black jaguars are even more rare than spotted. He's 
gorgeous!" The man continued to talk about jaguars, but Jim ignored 
him yawning. As soon as he yawned the man began to talk about Jim's 
teeth and the crushing power of a jaguar's jaws. Jim remembered that 
Blair enjoyed watching the man's show. Jim kept wondering when he was 
going to hear that the guy had died of snake poisoning or being eaten 
by a crocodile. 
 
Shaking his head, Jim was about to head back up into the tree when 
the man said something to the camera that caught Jim's attention. 
 
"Tommorow, we are going to meet with Dr. Blair Sandburg and take a 
gander at the newest find here in Peru. An ancient temple that he 
believes was a spiritual retreat for sentinels." The man then talked 
about exactly what a sentinel was, and that Dr. Sandburg had written 
his dissertation on modern day sentinels.
 
Jim's heart seemed to lighten as he realized Blair was in Peru. 
Suddenly he very much wanted to see Blair again, and wondered about 
the location of the Temple. The Chopec shaman who had replaced 
Incacha would be able to tell him, of that he was sure. With that 
thought Jim immediately leaped from branch to branch heading toward 
the Chopec village. He could hardly wait to see his guide and friend 
again. 
 
Jim found the camp of the famous Crocodile Hunter. It was night, and 

the inhabitants were all sound asleep in their tents. The camp had a 

black HumVee, and a Army green Deuce and a half parked in the camp. 

Jim easily leaped into the back of the large truck, and hid himself 

among the equipment stored there. The Chopec shaman had indeed known 

the location of the Temple, but the distance was too great for Jim to 

make it in less than a few days. And it was dangerous for Jim to 

travel outside the Chopec territory. Not only would he have other 

jaguars to deal with, but other tribes would hunt Jim as well as 

poachers who would covet his elegant black coat. Jim had then decided 

that he could just hitch a ride with Crocodile Hunter crew. 



Jim curled up in the truck and went to sleep all the while his senses 

alert for the anything dangerous. 



Jim was awoken the next morning when the truck started up. He could 

hear the people talking and the motor of the Humvee running, then 

felt the truck being shifted into gear and the convoy getting under 

way. 



The drive took several hours, but eventually the truck came to a 

stop, and the engine was turned off. It was at that moment that Jim 

heard a voice he hadn't heard in a long time. 



"Welcome to my camp." Dr. Blair Sandburg voice rang out above the 

sounds of the jungle. 



The men began to offload the equipment, and Jim suddenly wondered how 

the hell he was going to get out of the truck unnoticed. 



But that point became moot when a man lifted a crate then dropped it 

in surprise at the sight of the big black jaguar. He yelled in 

Spanish, and people quickly descended upon the truck. The man, 

apparently not being very smart, leaped out of the truck. Jim shook 

his head. A real jaguar would have attacked him, predators enjoyed 

chasing down prey that ran. But Jim just stood on his paws, and 

watched as people surrounded the truck. The crocodile hunter and his 

wife tried to calm everyone down, telling them to be quiet and to 

make no sudden movements. He also sent one of the men for a 

tranquilizer gun. *Damn*, Jim thought. Then he saw Blair's face come 

into view and the young anthropologist's eyes widened as he 

recognized Jim. 



"Alright everyone, no sudden movements. Let's all slowly back away 

from the truck, and give the guy room to get out on his own." The 

crocodile hunter said, and everyone obeyed including Blair. Jim 

noticed the man coming with the tranqu gun. He hoped they weren't 

planning to use it except as a last resort. 



"Your not going to use that are you?" Blair asked. 



"Hopefully we won't need to. It’s just a precaution. Jaguars are like 

tigers. They've been known to kill humans. I don't want anyone 

getting hurt including this beautiful guy here." The crocodile hunter 

said as he took the gun from his assistant gesturing with his chin 

toward Jim to indicate whom he was talking about. 



"That's good." Blair said, then turned to Jim, "Its alright Jaime, 

you can leave now." 



Everyone looked at Blair, and Jim leaped out of the truck and dashed 

off into the surrounding jungle. *Thanks, Chief.* Jim sent to Blair.



"Why did you call him Jaime?" The crocodile hunter asked. 



Blair smiled, and then told them of the story of the jaguar he had 

helped save from the zoo and released back into the jungles of Peru. 

Jim listened to Blair's story from his perch high in a tree hidden by 

the canopy.