Iwan was restless in his room. He tried knocking at Ardeth’s door for several times, without getting any answers. It seemed that Ardeth did not come back to his room. He was worried, yet he knew Ardeth was smart enough not to do anything stupid that would endanger them.

For the last five days they had been working together to uncover the smugglers. They had been going back and forth from the camp to Pontianak or sneaked to the village to take more pictures. The photos Ardeth had taken were a solid proof that the damages in Randara Forest, especially to the animals’ habitat, were caused by man, not nature. Ardeth also found out that something was written on one of the jacket worn by the man who supervised the loading works. He had the photo enlarged in Pontianak to find that it was a logo. It seemed like a company’s logo. The result of the enlargement photo was quite blur. It was in the shape of a blue earth with one golden lightning on each side. He looked at the pictures once more and sighed.

"Where are you, Habib?" He spoke to himself.

"You want me to find out about this logo, now that I know what it is, you’re not here." He sighed once more, turned the light off and went to sleep.

He had checked out tons of archives in the office in Pontianak the whole day and making calls to the chamber of commerce office. He found that the similar logo belonged to Indo Chemicals Ltd. A Company established in Jakarta that owned a factory in West Java. He suspected a reason why they came here, yet he would need a solid proof than just a blur photo and a suspicion. They would have to come back to Randara Village once more.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

She watched him. He was so handsome in his sleep. She caressed his chest and laid her head on it.

"Princess….." He whispered. "Princess….. no.. don’t leave me……"

His head turned to the left side. He breathed harder and sweat was starting to wet his forehead.

Cat touched his face and caressed his hair. "Ssssh….." She said.

Suddenly Ardeth opened his eyes and grabbed her hand. His expression was of fear and he was breathing heavily. He held her wrist so tightly that she began to feel the pain.

"Ardeth! You’re hurting me! Let me go!" She said.

Ardeth turned to her with an empty look. Slowly he let go of her wrist and she could see his eyes were returning to normal. He blinked several times and sighed, " I am sorry. Did I hurt you bad?" He asked.

"No, Ardeth. Are you okay?" She caressed his face with her hand.

Ardeth backed off from her and went to the bathroom without closing the door. He washed his face and return to bed. Cat was still sitting on the bed, looking at him with worries.

Ardeth took Cat’s hands and spoke softly, "It’s allright, Cat. I had a bad dream, that’s all."

"Wanna talk about it?" Cat asked.

Ardeth kept quiet. He took his clothes and started to wear his pants.

"Ardeth, the first time we met you were so rude and cold. You told me you had not slept well. Was it because of the same dream?" Cat didn’t want to give up probing.

Ardeth was putting on his shirt and didn’t answer her. Once again, he became the same rude, cold man she met last week. Only this time, Cat would not back off from him.

She rose from her bed and walked towards him. Ardeth sat on the bed, looking down. She touched his chin and lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"You can talk to me." She whispered.

He looked at her eyes for a moment and Cat could see a trace of tears. She sat beside him and turned to kiss him.

Ardeth sighed heavily, "It is not a happy story." He finally said.

"I’m not looking for one anyway." She answered him.

"Is this about your wife?" She asked him, looking at the ring around his finger.

Ardeth touched the ring and looked at her. He had never told his story to anybody. He felt strange that he was feeling very comfortable with Cat. He could tell any tale to her, he would even confide in her if necessary. He sighed, "Yes." And he began his story.

"Her name was Sandra Matthews. We were childhood friends. She lived next door to our house in California. My father has a good business there, in fact it was there that he met my mother and got married. My father is an antique dealer and owns some shops in several countries. Sandy, that was how I called her, was only 2 years younger than I was. We played in the same field, we went to the same school, did our homework together. We were so close to each other, we cared a lot to each other like brother and sister. Maybe because we both were the only child in our families."

Ardeth sighed and walked to the window. Cat knew better than to cut his story, so she sat still and waited for him to continue.

"One day, her parents went to the Bahamas for a second honeymoon. She stayed in my house. We were so happy then. I remembered she ran to me and screamed the news to my face. She was glad because it only meant that she could go out of the house at night with me." Ardeth smiled and looked at Cat.

"I used to sneak out at night to watch the stars. I just love seeing them, … not knowing their names though. On the other hand, Sandy knew their names, the constellations, everything that she could memorize from her book, yet hardly saw them with naked eyes. You can imagine how she looked that night when I took her to the back yards. We both lied down on our blankets and covered our bodies with more blankets as to not getting a cold the next morning. We stared at the sky……." His voiced trailed of.

Cat came to his side and held his hands. She felt sorry for him. He looked strong and full of confidence in the outside, but after talking with him she found out that he was weak and fragile. She could only imagine what this man had gone through.

"Just like what we did?" she asked.

He nodded, unable to speak.

"How old were you then?" Cat tried to pull him back to reality.

Ardeth sighed and smiled, "I was 11 and she was only 9."

"Anyway, we had a good time together that night, unaware that the plane that took her parents to the Bahamas crashed and fell into the sea. No survivors."

"Jesus…" Cat whispered softly, still holding his hands in hers. They both were sitting on the edge of the bed now.

"My parents then adopted Sandy. However, the tragedy was too traumatic for her. She kept crying every time she looked at the house that she used to live in, even though it was already sold not long afterwards. My father decided then that all of us went back to Cairo. He went back and forth to manage the antique shops, but the family resided in Cairo."

"I became very protective towards her. I had heard her crying at night. She cried softly so that she would not wake up anyone. But I heard, and most of the time, my heart cried with her. I loved her so much, as a brother loved a sister. I tried hard to make her happy all the time. I guess she knew it too, for she always managed a smile, even so faint, just to show me that she was feeling better."

"As we grew older, the love between us grew stronger, yet in a different way. I started to get jealous every time I found her talking to a guy over the phone. She acted the same towards me. One night, we couldn’t help ourselves and made love in her bedroom. That time we both realized that we had fallen deeply in love to each other. I was only 18 when we got married. After our marriage, my parents went back to the USA, but we lived in Cairo in a small apartment of our own." Ardeth’s eyes looked empty as he spoke. He was picturing the events inside his head while telling the story.

"As a photographer, I traveled a lot and left her by her own so often. She said that sometimes she felt lonely because we had not been given a child for a long time. When finally we had a son, I still didn’t change my habit. I still traveled a lot and left them home in Cairo. I stupidly thought that Sandy would not mind because she had our son, David to take care of. She wouldn’t feel lonely anymore. So I took more jobs than before. I had hardly seen my son growing." Ardeth looked down on the floor, his voice was only above a whisper that Cat had to focus on him to hear what he said.

"David was only 2 years old when it happened," He continued, still speaking softly as if to himself.

"I was in Bangkok, Thailand taking photos. It happened so fast, they said." He sighed deeply, his voice choked. And then silent.

Cat waited, but Ardeth kept silent. He pulled his knees up and covered his face with both hands. Cat touched his back and arm.

"What happened?" She asked him.

He rose from the bed, walked to the window and stared blankly outside. Cat followed him and stood beside him. She looked up and saw that he was crying.

"There was fire in the apartment. A short circuit, they said. They found my Princess lying on the floor in front of David’s bedroom. David’s body was found inside the bedroom. The door was jammed because of the heat. They both died in the fire. Nobody knew what happened exactly, but the police guessed that Sandy tried to open the door to save David. Until she couldn’t breath anymore and fell unconscious in front of the door. I was…. I …. I lost everyone I love… I …lost …. love itself." For a few seconds Cat thought he was going to sob, but then he regained control of himself.

"I’m sorry, Ardeth." Cat held him against her and rested her head on his chest.

Ardeth pushed her away, "No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you with my miserable story. I think I better go back to my room now."

"No, Ardeth, please don’t go. Is there anything I can…." Cat tried to hold him back.

"No Cat. There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing I can do. It was in the past. I should’ve left it there. I’m trying hard to move on with my life now…" He hesitated. He looked at her, "I’ve been living under her shadows for quite sometimes. I always prayed that God would send me his Death Angel to help me step into the light and end this misery. Instead, he sent me another Angel."

Ardeth smiled and continue, "You are my Angel, Cat. You make me see that love still goes around this ugly world. I would like to find love, once more, to believe in. Will you help me?"

"I will help you, Ardeth." Cat touched his face and brought her lips to meet his and they kissed. They held each other tight for a while before finally Ardeth left her room and closed the door. She stared at the door for a while, thinking. She knew that she fell in love with him.

"What’s wrong with it?" Dr. Richardson burst into the lab.

Dr. Soputan, Dr. Mark Hollis and Dr. Malik were standing beside the body of Robin, the young orang utan. They were finished performing an autopsy.

"We thought that it was killed by the same virus that killed the two others. But I found something strange and called Danny to help me." Dr. Malik explained.

"What did you find?" Asked Dr. Richardson as he was moving to follow Dr. Malik to the microscope.

"Do you see that?" Dr. Malik asked him.

"It’s not a virus, damn it!!" shouted Dr. Richardson in surprise.

"Exactly," Dr. Soputan jumped in. "It’s a mutated body cell."

Dr. Richardson turned to both of them, pouring out words fast as he began understanding what the problem was. "You both are implying that whatever killed these animals are not virulent virus. If the cause of death is mutated body cells, then the trigger for the mutation must be a significant change of the environment. Pollution? Radiation? And we could only see this because it was on the early stage. The two adult orangutans were already exposed too long. Yet this one was too young to survive even on the early stage."

"The cause could be chemical." Dr. Malik nodded in confirmation.

"This blood sample is not enough to verify it. I still keep some that I took this afternoon. I better get it now." Dr. Soputan flew away.

Dr. Malik and Dr. Richardson were still discussing the matter when suddenly they heard a loud scream from Dr. Soputan.

"Danny!! Ada apa (what is it)?" Shouted Dr. Malik.

"The samples, Doctor. It’s gone!!" Dany looked terribly shocked.

He turned to look at them, "Both Robin’s and Kevin’s."

"What?!!!" Dr. Malik and Dr. Richardson said in a choir.

The three of them froze in the lab looking at each other with confused looks. Probabilities and theories formed in their heads.

"What is going on here?" Mark Hollis managed to break the silence.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

Ardeth walked back to his room with his mind still clung on Catherine’s face. He opened the door and turned on the light. He was about to throw himself on the bed when he saw something on the floor. He picked it up and opened it. It was a note from Iwan.

Iwan Sugiarta

Ardeth stood for a while, thinking. Chemicals only meant wastes. He looked at his watch. It was time for the Dawn Prayer. He took a bath and did his Prayer, then quickly went to Iwan’s room.

"Come on in, Habib. Did you burn it?" He asked as he opened the door for Ardeth.

"Yes, Iwan. So do you think, what this Indo Chemicals is doing here? I suspect that they are dumping waste in the forest? But why so far away from Jakarta, and why in the forest? I don’t get it, Iwan."

Iwan smiled, "That is what I’ve been so eager to tell you, Habib. You’ve been in Indonesia for 3 years, right?" Ardeth nodded.

"Well, this happened before you arrived to this lovely country. About 5 years ago, the government found out that some Indonesian companies had been importing chemicals and plastic wastes from other country. The documents were forged, but some containers were being robbed during the transportation. That was when we found out that the containers were transporting wastes."

"Yes.. yes.. I remember reading the news about it somewhere." Ardeth said.

"Since then, our government had stricken the flow of imported containers, especially those arrived in Jakarta port. I guess a small company like Indo Chemicals Ltd. that owns a small factory wouldn’t need this much effort to get rid of their waste. I bet they are also doing illegal imports as a side job, eh?" Iwan walked around then sat on his bed.

Ardeth looked at him, "Not necessarily, my friend. You said that it’s a joint venture company, yes?"

"Yes, that’s what is written on the documents." Iwan replied.

"See, my friend, we need to find out who the other partner is. If it’s a major chemical industry, the reason this small company was established in Jakarta is only to get rid of the waste, the factory might only be a cover up. You said so yourself that they only have a very small factory."

"Yes, Habib. In West Java. Very small, hardly known." Iwan nodded approvingly.

He continued, "It all makes sense, Habib. The Randara Forest was a remote area. Up until two years ago, you wouldn’t find anyone who knew exactly where this place was. Except for rangers, of course. When the fire burnt half of this land’s forest, the reservation for orang utan in Tanjung Putting was badly damaged. They sent the surviving orang utan to this area and built a simple reservation near the Randara Village. The reason is because the villagers are very cooperative in helping us save the forest and wildlife."

"Maybe you should know, Habib, that the village was not located there. Before the fire, Randara Village was located further north from the present location. Half of their village was destroyed in the fire and many of them died. They moved here only two years ago, about the same time we built the reservation."

Ardeth looked at him seriously, "We’ve seen the dump site. I think Indo Chemicals forced the Randarans to work for them. We need to go back there to find out what exactly they want with these simple people, Iwan. Most importantly, we need to know what they’re doing with the chemical waste. From what we have seen, they’re not dumping waste, but transporting it somewhere….. what if the tanks contain something else, Iwan? What’s inside the boxes?"

"Other than chemical waste, Habib?" Iwan was intrigued.

Ardeth nodded slowly, still thinking.

"Then we should go back there and get some proof, Habib."

Twenty minutes later, they were seen walking off the compound towards the forest with backpacks on their backs.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

"This is not happening!" Dr. Malik cursed.

"Who attended to him last night, before Mark Hollis?" He shouted.

"Dr. Emma Corrigan and I." Danny Soputan read from his pad.

"He was fine when Mark came to replace me. I went back to my room to get some sleep before you called me about Robin’s death." He explained.

"Yes, yes. I also called Mark Hollis to help me. And he was fine when we left him." Said Dr. Malik.

"What is the problem?" Dr. Richardson and Cat stormed in the lab, with Dr. Corrigan following close behind them. They looked tired. Jack Richardson was wearing the same clothes as the last time Danny saw him. Only Catherine looked fresher than the others.

Danny stopped his train of thoughts when he heard Mark Hollis’ reply, "Kevin’s dead, Doc."

"Holly Mother Mary!" Dr. Corrigan shoved to the front to look at the dead body lying on the autopsy table.

"I was surprised to find him dead this morning, Dr. Corrigan. I went to him to get his blood because we lost the sample last night." Mark Hollis explained further.

Suddenly everybody started speaking at the same time. Dr. Malik raised his voice, "Listen up, everybody. I have informed Lt. Jeff Leonard and Lt. Subagio. We believe that this is a murder case, and I know you thought so too."

Once again they all started speaking.

"Everybody, please calm down." This time it was Dr. Richardson’s voice.

"The theft, Robin’s and Kevin’s deaths, were all leading to one conclusion. We knew it is chemical, but we do not have anything anymore to start further research. Somebody in this compound doesn’t want us to find out the source of the illness."

"I have one more shocking news for you all." All heads turned to Dr. Corrigan.

She was sitting in front of her computer, "Somebody erased all my files on this project."

She looked up to them in disbelief.

Everybody turned to their own computers in unison. And the room fell silent as one by one found out that they too had lost their reports, files, and anything about the project.

"That’s it everybody. We close this lab, and let the navy take charge. This is beyond our responsibility now." Dr. Malik said.

"You’re right." Answered Dr. Richardson. "Hollis, you put Kevin’s body back to the fridge, and let’s close the lab. There’s nothing to work on this project anymore anyway. I am not going to get any of you murdered."

"If you asked me whom I suspect, I would bet on that strange photographer." Hollis spoke softly, but all of them could hear it.

They all left the room and locked the building. The keys then submitted to Lt. Subagio. Now they could only wait for evacuation, assuming the murderer is not among the team.

Once again, Ardeth found himself hiding under the bush. The temperature was high and he was sweating all over. They had been hiding there for hours, watching the men loading tanks and boxes to a truck. Nothing else happened. The plan was getting inside the village at night to obtain information from the Randarans without getting caught. He started to wonder why these people were transporting the tanks and boxes out of this place instead of dumping them here.

Ardeth looked at his watched. It was 5 pm. Good, he thought. The sun would set in one more hour. He was beginning to get cramps. He looked at Iwan and surprised to find him asleep. He would wake him when it was dark.

"Iwan! Sssh.. Iwan…wake up." Ardeth shook him.

"Yes? Habib?" He looked confused at first then realized where he was. Night had fell and darkness surrounded them.

"Are you ready to go?" Asked Ardeth.

"Yes, Habib. Let’s go now."

They both crawled out of their hiding place. Iwan led the way. Every now and then he would stop listening to their surroundings. He cupped his flashlight with his palm to cover the bright light. They sneaked inside the village, and went around one house.

"Lay low, Habib. I will knock on the door. You stay here, OK. If something happened to me, you go and safe yourself."

Iwan quickly went away before Ardeth could file any protest. Ardeth watched him crawled to the back of the house and watched him knocked the door. Iwan seemed to be talking with someone from behind the door, for not long after the door was opened. Iwan motioned him to come.

Once they were inside, the man quickly closed the door close. The interior of the wooden house was very dim. They were in some kind of a kitchen and a bathroom joined together. A woman greeted Iwan and spoke something in tribal language. The man led them inside the living room and asked them to sit on the floor. For a few minutes he talked with Iwan in tribal language, until the man turned to Ardeth and spoke Bahasa.

"So you’re from the Middle East. Iwan told me you are helping him. If he trusts you, then I should too. I am Pu’un, the chief of this small tribe." He introduced himself.

"I am Ardeth Bey. Nice to meet you Pu’un."

"No… it is not nice to meet me. You are in danger and so do I. Randarans maybe simple and honest people, Habib, but we are not stupid. We know the enemy we are facing."

"Tell me about them, Pu’un." Iwan said, "We will help you."

Pu’un lowered his voice, "These people are not foreigners, but they work with or for foreigners. At first we thought they work for the orangutan reservation. One day one of our children who was playing around the forest saw people working in the cave. He reported it and I ordered some men to check them out. They were caught and the leader came to me for a bargain. I shall cooperate with them if I want to see this village intact. All the men who checked the cave came back safely, they released them. A few days later they fell ill, but not the boy. They said they were being treated like animals. They were tied and were given some injections. They all died only within a few days. The same thing happens with the orangutans in the reservation, but it looks like they died much slower than humans."

"I was about to go to the authorities when I was caught and they took over the village. They have guns, and we do not have any weapons to defend ourselves. We fear for the women and children. They forced all men to help them loading tanks and boxes to the trucks. They are transporting them to another place to cover their tracks because the news about the dead orangutans already reached Pontianak. They transported the dead orangutans too." He closed his story.

"Are they watching the village at night, Pu’un? I didn’t see anyone when we sneaked inside." Iwan asked him.

"They usually do. I guess you are lucky tonight. Oh… there’s something I need to show you, Iwan." He rose and walked to a room. When he came out, he was holding a piece of paper.

"This I took from one of the tanks after your last visit, Iwan. I knew you’d come back, so I keep this." He gave it to Iwan and sat down next to him.

It was a label. Iwan showed it to Ardeth, "A&H Corp." He murmured.

"I guess we found the big partner, Habib. Do you know anything about this company?"

"Not much. I only know that they own major chemicals factories, hospitals and carry out medical researches. I left USA when I was a teenager. I did not quite follow business news then." He smiled wearily and continued, "I think we were wrong all along, Iwan. These guys are not dumping chemical wastes. From what Pu’un described, I think they were conducting illegal researches in this forests and used the animals as their subjects. Now that everything was out of hand, they are cleaning up their traces."

"You’re right, Habib." Pu’un said. I was thinking of the same thing to report to the authorities."

Iwan stood up, "Pu’un, I need to use your bathroom now."

"Please go ahead, Iwan. You don’t have to ask for my permission. I told you that you’re a family in this house." Iwan smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

"And you too, Habib. You are always welcome in this village. You are a good man, Habib, and I know one once I look in the eyes." Pu’un continued.

He was just about to close his mouth when suddenly the door burst open. Four big men came rushing in, carrying long wooden sticks the size of a baseball bat. Ardeth stood up but one of them hit him hard on his head. He could only see Pu’un lying on the floor before his head hit the floor.

OOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOO

Iwan heard the noises and guessed what was happening. Without second thought he flew out of the room to the backside of the house. He ran towards the end of the village but saw some more people were coming. Still running, he turned the other way passing some houses. Lucky he knew this village very well, he thought. One of the villagers opened his door and motioned him to head another way. The villager signed him to climb the tree. He followed his instruction and quickly climbed the nearest one. He sat on a high branch and waited in the dark. He was breathing heavily from running around like a trapped rabbit.

In the dim light he could see some more men were coming and searched the houses one by one. They were looking for him. He watched a man dragging someone. Iwan tried to get a better look and moved to a lower branch. It was Pu’un’s body.

"Is he still alive? Where’s Habib? Did he get away?" He questioned himself.

A moment later another two men came out of Pu’un’s house dragging a big man’s body. Iwan held his breath. They’re taking Pu’un and Habib Bey somewhere, he thought in panic. Yet he could only watch. He didn’t even know how he could get away to get help. He got nowhere to escape with all that many people around the village. Maybe he had to stay up there for quite a while, he thought.

Yet he was wrong for they left the village as quickly as they came. Fifteen minutes later the village was quiet. The man who saved him opened his door and signaled him to get down from the tree.

"Daim, where are they taking Pu’un and my friend, are they still alive?" He asked.

"I don’t know their conditions, Iwan, but they’re alive. I know where they’re taking them. Usually they are going south. To tell you the truth, I don’t know the exact location, but it’s around the reservation. I will show you the way, but I cannot leave the village. They will come and check the men in the morning. They threatened that if some men were not found, they will kill Pu’un."

Iwan discussed their strategy for a while. It was decided then that since they only counted the number of men, Daim would send some of the women to the compound to meet Lt. Eddy Subagio. Iwan had written a brief note explaining the situation and asked Lt. Subagio to send a team to bust the place. He would go around the reservation area to find out their hideaway to spy on them…. If possible to rescue Ardeth and Pu’un.

When all was settled, Iwan started his long trek into the woods. Daim had suggested that he avoided the river. The bad guys would have had people around to wait for him. He also gave him a blade and a tulup. It was a traditional weapon in a form of a catapult with poisonous bamboo darts to throw instead of rocks. Iwan walked with two women through the forest. They separated around the river branch. The women wished him good luck and they went on to the compound.

It was not an easy trek for him because he didn’t know exactly where to go, and it was dark. So Iwan decided to check out the reservation and looked for tracks. Pu’un said that they transported the dead orang utans out of this area, so if he were lucky, he would have found tracks of the truck. Sweeping in the dark was one of the craziest things in the world, he thought. He started sweeping the area anyway. He started from the south part, making a perimeter around the reservation. He rounded the place with a flashlight on his hand. Thank God he was not only a ranger but also a good tracker, he thought again. His friends’ lives now depended upon his talents. He prayed that Allah would help him find them.