Being a ranger was always interesting, but sometimes it could be hard and dangerous too. Especially when he had to apprehend his fellow villagers to the authority for illegal cutting of marked trees. But this time, it was different. This time his task would be leading a group of scientists to find the cause of mysterious deaths of the orangutans and monkeys. He knew it would be more dangerous and that all of them were going to risk their lives entering the Randara forest. Who knew what kind of virus killed them, and who knew about the cure.. if there was one. He couldn’t wait no longer, but he had to wait for the scientists who were still on the dining hall having breakfast. He was so happy when he saw Ardeth walked out of building A, carrying his camera and a backpack.

"Good Morning, Habib. Apa kabar (how are you)?"

"Baik (good)."

"You are right about the jet lag, Habib. It’s 10 o’clock now and they haven’t even finished eating. I’ve been ready since 8 o’clock."

Ardeth didn’t smile and turned to look to Dr. Soputan and watched his activities for a while.

"I gotta go to speak with him now, Iwan. Are you coming?"

"Yes, Habib. I’m going with you." Iwan noticed that Ardeth was not himself today. He was usually very nice. He was not a man who like to talk, but he smiled often. Yet this morning, he looked different.

Ardeth walked across the way and regarded Dr. Soputan.

"Apa kabar, Doctor?"

Dr. Soputan turned around and said, "Ah, Mr. Bey. I’m doing fine."

"There are cages, doctor. Are we planning to capture any orangutan?"

"Yes Mr. Bey. If possible, other animals too. That’s the gun you’re looking at. They will be sedated, so don’t worry, they won’t bite you."

Ardeth was still looking at the cage, and said coldly, "I’m not worried about us, doctor. I’m pretty sure you are as good at shooting as these ensigns. I’m just calculating the weight of orang utan plus the weight of the cages. You do not plan to take them out of the car, and take them around the forest do you?"

"You don’t worry about that, Mr. Bey. Those ensigns look strong. And if they’re not, we always have you to help." He laughed a little at his own joke. "No, Mr. Bey, we are not going to take them around the forest."

Ardeth merely looked at him. He turned around when he heard people’s coming. "I guess we’re ready to go, doctor."

"Yes. Oh.. good morning Dr. Hollis, Dr. Ryan, Dr. Hetfield. This is Mr. Ardeth Bey, the photographer hired by the Indonesian State Department of Forestry and Wildlife. And this is Iwan, our ranger today, I believe you’ve met him yesterday."

Ardeth shook hands with three of them, saying nothing. On the contrary, it was Iwan who blurted the hallos and how are yous joyfully.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

Cat sat opposite a man on the back of the cruiser. Iwan sat in front with ensign Bowo who was driving the car. She wished she was in the other car with her colleagues and Dr. Soputan could sit here with this man. But she knew why she was being grouped with him. Dr. Soputan prefers to talk and discuss the matter with the others than sitting here with this strange man. After all, Dr. Hollis and Dr. Ryan were more experienced than she was. They’ve been driving for fifteen minutes and this man had said nothing at all. Iwan is quite busy telling the direction to ensign Bowo and talked to her for once or twice only.

She looked at him curiously and noticed that he was actually quite handsome. His long dark hair was tied in ponytail, and his beard was trimmed very neatly. He had thick dark eyebrows and his lips were full and sexy. He didn’t even smile at her, at anyone. But she couldn’t stand the silence, she was a very curious person. So she tried to build a conversation.

"So you are hired by the State Department of Forestry and Wildlife to take pictures?"

He was looking at the front watching Iwan guiding the ensign when he heard the question. He looked at her and said, "Yes, I am." And looked back towards the front seat.

Cat had not given up. "What kind of pictures, Mr. …… err …"

"Ardeth Bey." He fell silent again.

Cat smiled and completed her question, "What kind of pictures are you going to take, Mr. Bey?"

This time he looked at her and said, "Things in the forest."

"But what for? I don’t understand."

He sighed, and looked at her in the eyes and spoke softly but firmly. "A campaign against wood smugglers and illegal cuttings. The Department hopes that funds and aids will flow from other countries to save this forest. Do you understand, now?"

"Yes, thank you for explaining Mr. Bey."

With that, he obviously closed the conversation. Cat looked at his eyes and shuddered. It was like looking into the abyss. Dark and hollow. What was it there that she saw? Sadness, grieve, anger, rage… what? She was afraid to find out. She decided to stay away from this man. So for the rest of the journey, she kept silent. Sometimes she asked Iwan about their surroundings and about Indonesia. She was grateful for him being there, because he was always polite and willing to answer any kind of questions. And he was funny too.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

Forty-five minutes later, the land cruiser stopped. The other three behind them also stopped and everybody was getting out.

"Here we are. We walk from here. Better bring as little as you can, doctors. It’s a long walk from here. If I go alone, I can reach the orangutan reservation in half an hour. I don’t know your speed, doctors. So I guess we better hurry. The night falls faster in the forest, we have to come back here before dark."

Kevin looked around him and walked further away from the group towards a narrow slope. Suddenly he slipped and fell down. When the others heard him scream, they came rushing towards him. He was sitting on the bottom of the slope. It wasn’t too deep, about 70 cm.

"Are you OK, Kevin?" Mark asked.

"Yes, yes, I’m so clumsy. Let me just wash my hands on that pond and then you can help me up." Mark raised his thumb up. He then walked to wash his dirty palms.

They all sit around the cruisers to drink and eat some sandwiches before started to suite up. The doctors helped the navy put on the orange environmental suites. Then they helped Iwan and Ardeth before they wore theirs.

Two ensigns brought two bamboo poles, in which they would tie up the orangutans. Dr. Soputan held one shot gun, and Mark Hollis held another one. They started their trip. Cat and Kevin Ryan gathered their backpacks and followed them. The other two navy ensigns followed after them.

The temperature in the forest was quite high. And it was so humid that all of them were sweating so much inside the suites. Ardeth had some difficulties adjusting his camera because of his gloved hands. Iwan walked in the front followed by Ardeth. They walked quite fast as if they walked on a pavement instead of sticky mud. The rain that fell last night had made the ground muddy, causing her little feet to hurt a bit Yet she really enjoyed the trip. She bumped he feet to unseen roots under the mud so many times.

It was almost one-hour walk and yet there was no sign from Iwan whether they were close to the reservation or still so very far. Cat shouted at Iwan for information, "Are we close, Iwan?"

"Yes, doctor. With this speed, we’ll reach the reservation in 10 minutes. We cannot afford any time to rest. You can rest when we get there. It’s going to rain soon, doctor."

Cat looked up and felt stupid at once. The sky was covered with all the big trees around them. Then how come Iwan knew it was going to rain? She remembered her conversation with ensign Hawk. The heat and the humidity level. Right. She kept on walking in silence. They were all saving their breaths. She saw they were breathing heavily, except for Iwan, Ardeth, ensign Bowo and Ardan. They were used to the humidity and the temperature. She wondered if Ardeth had been living in this country for sometime.

Finally they reached the reservation. They entered a small building. Iwan explained that it used to be the care center for the sick orangutan. They rested there for five minutes, and Danny started them going again. Iwan led the way deeper to the forest. Ardeth started taking pictures. There were some remains of orang utans bodies. The smell was awful, that Cat thought the air filter in her helmet had malfunctioned. Suddenly they heard a scream. An orangutan’s scream. Iwan and Danny started running towards the sound, followed closely by Mark and Ardeth. Cat couldn’t run as fast as the men, but the two navy ensigns always stayed close behind her to keep her from separated. When finally she caught up, she saw they were tying the poor orangutan to the bamboo pole. They were all so busy that they didn’t see something that caught Cat’s attention.

"There’s another one behind the bush." She said aloud.

Mark Hollis hurriedly picked up his gun, loaded the sedative and aimed it towards the bush.

"It went up that tree, Mark. There. That way!" Cat pointed out.

Mark fired, but missed it. A second gun fired, and the orangutan fell down to the ground. Mark turned and saw that it was Kevin who fired. "Nice shot, Kev."

Kevin took the riffle while Danny was still busy tying the first orangutan.

They all ran towards the orang utan. "It’s still young." Said Kevin.

"C’mon Man, hurry up. Gimme the rope." Mark barked to Iwan who stood there holding the rope, feeling sorry for the orangutan. It was obvious that the orangutan was sick. He didn’t need to be a doctor to know that. Mucus ran down from it’s nose and there were pink blotches on it’s skin.

Cat squatted helping Mark and Kevin. She realized that all the events were captured by Ardeth’s camera. He was now taking pictures of the young orangutan and stood incredibly close to her, his feet almost crunching hers. She hated it and rose, then walked away from him, when suddenly she saw something was coming towards them. She screamed. One big brown orangutan swooped from a tree and attacked the men.

Ardeth instinctively ran back. But Mark and Kevin who were still squatting were too late to run. It bit Kevin’s right arm and it’s paw scratched Mark on the chest tearing his suite. The rifle dropped away from Kevin’s hand. Ensign Bowo held out his gun and aimed at the orang utan, but he couldn’t fire fearing that it might miss and hit one of the scientists. Mark went down, and it came down on him. It hit Mark’s helmet and shattered it. This bought time for Kevin to run away. Ensign Bowo had a clear sight now and was about to fire when suddenly Ardeth’s came behind the orang utan and swayed the bamboo pole to hit it’s back. It fell forward unconscious. Ardeth took the rifle from the ground, kicked the orang utan aside and helped Mark on his feet. He gave the rifle to Mark, who was checking his environmental suite. Some droplets of rain started to fall on them.

Cat hurried tending to Kevin’s wound. His suite was torn and his arm was bleeding. He swore and opened his helmet. It was no use to wear the suite now that he was already exposed. Mark did the same. His chest were scratched and bled a little. Danny tended his wound.

Iwan came to them and said, "That orangutan acted strange. Orangutans never attacked people before. What will you do with it, doctor Soputan?"

"I guess we have to bring it too, Iwan."

"I’ll get a tree branch to tie the young one, then. That big one should be tied to the bamboo pole, doctor."

"Thank you, Iwan."

"But doctor, we must hurry. It will get dark in two hours." He warned them.

Cat was standing still and watched the others worked, when Ardeth approached her and asked, "Are you alright, Doctor Hetfield?"

She was surprised, "Oh… yes. Yes, I’m alright."

"You should sit down for a while, doctor. You look pale."

"Thank you, Mr. Bey. I’m just a little bit shocked. Other than that, I’m fine."

"You are dehydrated. But I guess you know better than I do. I’m not the doctor." With that, he walked away from her and sat near one of the ensigns.

Cat looked at him in disbelief. For one moment there, she thought he was a different man.

Iwan passed in front of her and looked at her. "You look rather pale, doctor. And your eyes are sunken. You need water. "

She knew both Ardeth and Iwan were right. She felt weak and exhausted.

"If not for this miserable suites, we would’ve been able to drink. I’m feeling very thirsty now." He chuckled.

"I don’t feel that thirsty, though. I think I can manage until we’re out of this place" Said Cat.

"That’s the danger, doctor. Unlike living in a desert where the sun and the climate is dry, the tropical island has high temperature with high humidity level. You sweat a lot but you don’t get thirsty."

Cat nodded approvingly.

He looked around and said, "I guess we’re all ready to go."

The trip back to the cars was harder and longer. Under the rain, the ground became muddy. The four ensigns carried the 2 adult orangutans, while Ardeth and Mark carried the young one. Iwan guided the way, followed by those who carried orangutans. The rest walked behind them. It took them one hour fifteen minutes to reach the starting point.

By four o’clock, they reached the cruisers, and half an hour later they were ready to roll back to the compound. The problem was, all of them didn’t dare to take off their suites, because Kevin and Mark were already exposed.

It was nearly one o’clock in the morning. She could hardly concentrate on her works and her eyes were sore.

"Catherine. Catherine!"

She looked up and saw Dr. Emma Corrigan’s face.

She smiled and said, "I think you better go get some sleep. I don’t want you to get sick."

Cat was so embarrassed, she straighten her hair and said "I’m so sorry. I….."

Dr. Corrigan patted her shoulder, "That’s allright, Cat. You’ve done a great job today. We will need you again tomorrow. Now go back to your room and get some rest. Dr. Richardson and I will close the lab now." Her motherly smiled reminded Cat of her mother.

She rose from her seat and said, "Thanks Dr. Corrigan, see you in the morning."

She went out of the lab and walked down the corridor, turning left instead of going to the changing room. She wanted to see Kevin and Mark. Cat entered a room and saw that both of them were fast asleep. She smiled and went out.

As she was changing her lab coat, her mind started to wonder. Things were turning so fast today. They came back from the forest with 3 orangutans and 2 men exposed to the biohazard environment. They set up quarantine procedures and started to take their blood samples. By the end of the day, the isolated men were released from the quarantine. It was proven that whatever caused the diseases did not travel by air. It was a relief because it meant that they did not have to wear the environmental suite while working. Both men were not allowed to leave the lab, though.

Suddenly a face flashed in her mind. Ardeth Bey. Jeez, somehow that man had aroused her curiosity. Never before she saw eyes like his. There were something buried there. Seemed like sadness or anger. She decided to get to know him better when she had a chance.

He was different from all the men she knew in her life. She was born rich, pretty, and smart. Men around her were either drawn by her beauty or her wealth, but never her intelligence. She didn’t have to look around for men, they were all around her waiting for her to pick them up. Some of them were quite handsome and kind. What she didn’t like about them was their lifestyle. She didn’t like glamorous life, although she had the money. Being a new comer in microbiology didn’t give her much money yet, but all she had to do was ask her father or brother.

Her only brother was 10 years older and he loved her dearly. Both her father and her brother were the most important people in her life. She would do anything for them. Her brother, Jonathan was exactly like her father in every way, from his physical appearance to his sense of business. Catherine was more like her late mother, simple, dynamic, adventurous and very determined. She just wished she wouldn’t end up like her mother who died in an Ebola outbreak in Africa. Her mind wondered back to Ardeth Bey. She sighed, and left the room.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

Ardeth was sitting in front of the building, smoking. He saw some navy people on guard but didn’t want to have any conversation with them. He didn’t think of anything, either. He looked at the sky and realized that the night was so clear. The sky was full of stars and the moon shined brightly. All of the sudden he felt it coming. The loneliness he kept trying to suppress for a long time, now boiling up and filled his heart and mind. He looked at the ground and whispered, "I miss you…." He fought the tears in his eyes and pushed the memories away from his mind. "I have to go on!" He said a little bit louder. He looked at the guards, but it seemed that they couldn’t hear him. He relaxed back and looked at the sky again, smoking his cigarette.

He remembered his conversation with Dr. Hetfield and he felt guilty. He was kind of rude to her today. He had not been in the mood for talking, while that woman talked a lot. It wasn’t her fault though. It was all because of the dreams he kept having every now and then. No matter how hard he tried not to get effected, those dreams had always found a way to slip in his mind and messed up with his plans for the next day. The dreams had become his shadows, following him everywhere. From the look in her eyes, he was sure she wouldn’t have wanted to talk to him anymore. Suddenly he caught something moving in the corner of his eye. He looked to his left and saw Dr. Hetfield walking out of the Lab. Maybe he still had a chance to fix things, he thought and smiled to himself.

She was walking slowly towards the building, not noticing him who sat in the dark.

"Working late, Doctor?" He regarded her with a calm voice.

Cat jumped at his words and stopped dead in her track. He stepped out from the dark into the light of the front entrance and said, "Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you."

She looked at him for a moment, then sighed. "Mr. Bey. You surely did scare the hell out of me."

She walked closer to him, laughing softly, "And what are doing sitting there alone in the dark like a vampire?"

"Do vampires smoke, Doctor?" He asked her.

"Maybe they do, I don’t know. I’m not a vampirologist."

He laughed and said, "Well, I’m definitely not a vampire, Doctor. And I don’t really like sitting here smoking alone. Would you care to join me?"

"I don’t smoke, Mr. Bey. But I guess, I can join you for a chat?"

"You are most certainly welcome, Doctor." He led her to the bench, "Please sit down."

Cat sat down beside him, wondering about the difference of attitude he was showing her that moment. "Why?" She asked him.

He looked at her, puzzled. "Why what, Doctor?"

"Why are you so different? I mean, you were so quiet this morning when we met. And you didn’t seem like talking much for the rest of the afternoon in the forest. But now…." She laughed and looked at him straight in the eyes.

Ardeth was surprised to learn about her directness. He was thankful for the situation, though. It was easier for him to apologize.

"I’m sorry if I acted rude to you this morning, Doctor Hetfield. I was having a really bad day before you came and I didn’t get much sleep either." He looked at her again. She was just beautiful, he thought. "Is there anyway I can…."

"Oh c’mon, Mr. Bey. We’re not kids. It’s OK. Sometimes I get rude to people too when I don’t have enough sleep." She laughed again.

The sound of her laughter was like music to his ears. He liked it.

She said, "Why don’t we start all over again?" With that word, she rose from her seat, took his hand and shook it, "I am Cat Hetfield."

This woman amused him, and made him smile. He rose from his seat too, "Ardeth Bey, at your service, ma’am." They both laughed and sat back down.

"Oh, please Mr. Bey. Don’t call me ma’am. Just call me Cat."

Ardeth’s smile, didn’t turn his eyes off her face. "Then you must call me Ardeth…."

They were silent for a while, both watching as Dr. Richardson and Dr. Corrigan passed them, they were busy talking. As Cat had, they too didn’t see them sitting in the dark.

"Cat." He said again.

"Yes?" she turned to look at him.

"Nothing, it’s just that it sounds improper to regard a person as beautiful as you with a nick name like that. May I call you Cathy, if it’s OK with you."

Cat chuckled, "I prefer Cat. It’s a name my mother used to call me. I’d like to keep it that way."

"Used to?" He asked

Cat looked at the sky and sighed, "Yes, she died of Ebola when I was 12 years-old. She went to Africa with some scientists and researchers during an outbreak."

"I’m sorry." Ardeth took her hand in his, to show his sympathy.

She looked up to him and smiled, "No worries, Ardeth. It was a long time ago. Sometimes I feel sad about it, but I never feel sorry for her. She died saving people’s life. She died honorably. You know, the reason I became a microbiologist is because I want to be like her in every way. Well, try to be like her, actually. She was a virologist."

He looked at her more closely while she was talking and knew that she was telling the truth. There was no trace of sadness in her eyes, only pride.

She was looking at the sky as she was talking. Suddenly he moved his hands towards her face, and touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. He didn't know what had driven him to do it, he just did it. Cat stopped talking and looked at him, quite surprised. Ardeth retracted his hand in embarrassment, saying, "I can’t help it…. You… you are so beautiful."

Cat looked at him closely, and learned that he looked more handsome with his hair down. When she first saw him, he kept his hair in a pony tail.

"Thank you." She said. No one has ever said that to her the way he just did. He said it so sincerely that it made her like him more and more every minute.

"You’re not mad at me?" He asked.

She chuckled and took his hand in hers, "Why should I, Ardeth? I just received the best compliment of the day. I thank you for being so nice to me."

Ardeth touched her cheek again, and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for being with me."

Cat touched Ardeth hand and felt a ring wrapped around his finger. He’s a married man, she thought in a light disappointment.

He suddenly rose and walked away, as if suddenly caught what she was thinking. Cat couldn’t quite catch her breath. She was feeling something when he touched her and whispered to her. Passion. But then, he left her in the dark, alone. She saw him walking towards the building and entered it. She shook her head in amazement. This guy was the most mysterious person she had ever met, and she began to like him…… a lot. She looked at the lab building which was now occupied only by Mark and Kevin, rose from her seat and sigh.

Ardeth walked fast to his room. He liked her, and that made him uneasy. He had never liked a woman this way for a long time. Maybe it would be best if he tried to keep away from her….