Chapter 37- something not quite right
Next morning
Daylight shrouded the city of Iquitos, Peru, but today, the sun was screened from view by a thick layer of grey clouds, so the weather was not as cheery as it had been yesterday. Dark clouds loomed in the distance, implying rain and some winds gusted through the human city. In the artificial indoor jungle compartment of the Sanctuario del Paradíso, the diurnal animals were preparing their morning routines including foraging for breakfast and getting young animals: chicks, pups and other baby animals, ready for lesson time. Dundee and his inner circle animals happily greeted the other animals as they left their 'tent' to set things up for the upcoming lesson, while the other animals wore joyful faces as they chatted with each other and smiled at their kids who played. However, not everyone had joy bubbling within them. Sandalwood and the others that had accidentally strayed into the Compartment of the Carnivores and almost to their demise at the paws of Carnassial and his gang of caracals and servals along with Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques, all woke to a miserable start to the day under the command of the older animals. Sandalwood and Acerola were commanded awake sharply by Shade and Sadie while Greg, a firm and stern glare on his face, knocked onto the wall of the hollow with a talon to bring Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola out of slumber-land. Nearby, Altair, a miserable and disgruntled scowl on his face, prepared for breakfast under Sardonyx and an elder blue-and-gold macaw's orders with some of the other chicks including Gladion, Lillie, Carmen, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Sirius and company, however, were not in the mood for waking up to the day ahead for they had not slept much last night. Greg's patience began to drain faster like sand through an hourglass.
"Come on, you fourteen," commanded the scarlet macaw, his talon constantly banging on the hollow wall, the sounds travelling through the wood and into the ears of the fourteen sleepy macaw chicks, "It's time to get up."
Gladion, Lillie, Carmen, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, together with Lars, Steven and Kevin, watched on as Sirius and some of the others in the group of fourteen just released tired groans and turned over in their nests.
"That Lusamine's gonna pay for causing those macaws, Altair, Sandalwood, Acerola and also the four penguins this misery," hissed Gladion bitterly as he watched Greg firmly tap Sirius on the head with a talon to get him to wake up. Sirius then reluctantly obeyed and wearily sat upright before Greg went on to tap Bellatrix on the head to get her to get up.
"I can't believe they're grounded for two weeks for something they had never done," murmured Carmen in a low voice, "It's just not fair."
"Especially since we're still new here," added a very disgruntled Alnitak, "We knew nothing about this Dalek chameleon."
"Why didn't Dundee tell us that there was a parrot-detesting chameleon somewhere in this indoor jungle?" asked Alnilam.
"I think he wanted to give you guys time to settle into this place first before telling you about that colour-changing lizard," said Steven, but then his face fell, "But that hadn't turned out too well."
As he said this, Castor and Pollux, their anger simmering within them, silently stormed past.
"We just came across him while we were going for a walk," growled Castor sourly, his anger threatening to flare up. Pollux also simmered in silence and said nothing. As the blue-and-gold twin brothers reluctantly stood beside Lars and Kevin who were wary of their simmering anger, Sardonyx appeared at the entrance to the hollow with four other adult scarlet macaws with two leaf bags full of fruit and nuts while Greg continued to wake up the other chicks.
"Breakfast time," Sardonyx said and with that, she and her companions began to distribute the food amongst the chicks. Soon, the chicks were having their breakfast. However, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus, Altair and Denebola were not in the mood for eating and instead just fiddled with their fruit and nuts, the anger at Lusamine and her gang and their pack of lies and getting them into trouble still boiling within them. As these fourteen macaws and archaeobird chick continued to fiddle with their food despite Sardonyx and two of the other scarlet macaws' command to eat their breakfast. While the three scarlets tried to get Sirius and the other fourteen to eat, Greg stood at the front of the feeding chicks.
"This morning's lesson is going to involve an introduction and talk about Dalek for the newcomers," he said, "After what happened yesterday, Dundee has decided that the newcomers know about that parrot-hating chameleon and why all parrots should avoid him."
"Are we still grounded for two weeks?" muttered Procyon as he reluctantly ate a berry, Castor and Pollux sitting nearby and playing with their berries.
"Yes, for entering the Compartment of the Carnivores and almost getting yourselves killed after deliberately provoking Dalek," said Greg firmly. At this, the three blue-and-gold macaw chicks, along with the rest of the fifteen, released disgruntled huffs.
"I'm sorry, you lot but we did warn you about going into that compartment of the artificial jungle," said Sardonyx in agreement, "Our human carers have separated us from those carnivores for a very good reason."
"But what about the Tasmanian devils?" asked Bellatrix.
"They're more self-controlled and will only eat the meat provided to them by our carers," said Greg, "Not unlike Carnassial and his gang and the other carnivores who will not hesitate to sink their teeth into prey like us. Now eat your breakfast and no more talking."
Disgruntled, Sirius and the others obeyed and began to disdainfully shove their breakfast down their throats but a sharp rebuke from Sardonyx put a stop to this behaviour and they were forced to eat normally. Some time later, it was time for the lesson and a wide variety of baby animals, chicks of various rare bird species, flying fox pups and monkey kids and more, all gathered in the lesson spot while Dundee and the others with him set up the lesson board ready for the next lesson, which was the animals of Asia this time. As the young animals gathered, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica all slid their eyes over the crowd of various young animals until they landed on a familiar black fruit bat pup with her friends, among them some spider monkeys. At this, the Spix macaw chicks' feathers bristled and their bodies began to shudder with wrath as they glared at Lusamine and her group of friends as they sat down together and talked with their parents and relatives. However, a blue-and-gold macaw adult's command snapped the three Spix macaws out of their glares and they were forced to join the congregation of young animals as commanded by the adult macaw who had her wing in a point. Somewhere else in the crowd, Sandalwood and Acerola who sat with Connie and two other grey-headed bat pups, gazed at the animals as they talked with Dundee. Behind them, two or three apes, which Sandalwood recognised as chimpanzees or chimps for short, were pinning up a map of a set of countries Sandalwood and his cousin could not recognise, alongside some other pictures of animals from those countries, among them a tiger. Standing before Dundee the emu were several animals also from these countries. Two of the animals resembled an anteater but Sandalwood noticed that the creatures' body was covered in a layer of large scales.
"Those two are pangolins," explained Connie, "Their species comes from the Asian country of India. Looks like they, along with those other animals also from the Asian continent, such as that panda and also those two orangutans…" as Connie said this, Sandalwood and Acerola focused on a bear-like creature and two rather large apes. The bear was white and had black ears, black patches around its eyes, and black legs with a black river-like mark flowing from the creature's front legs and around its back. The two apes were large, burly creatures covered in shaggy fur. Their long fur was a deep, glossy orange-brown colour similar to Acerola's auburn fur but darker. Their arms were longer than their legs. Their faces looked flat with their eyes positioned next to each other above a pair of nostrils.
"We've never actually seen a panda with our own two eyes before," said Acerola, "We've only ever seen a picture of a giant panda in an animal book back in Rio."
"They only eat bamboo, don't they?" asked Sandalwood, "Then how do those pandas get their food if there isn't any bamboo that grows here?"
"It's provided to them by our human carers," said another grey-headed bat, a male and one of Connie's friends, "That panda you see over there is named Mulan and she's the mother of two cubs. She, her mate and their cubs are the only four pandas that reside here."
At this, Sandalwood and Acerola turned and watched the panda which was a female named Mulan as she checked the map of the Asian countries, before nodding to one of the chimps to confirm that the map was set up correctly. Then moments later, the lesson on Asia and the animals of Asia was up and running.
Later
After the lesson on the animals of Asia and also Dundee's talk with Sandalwood and company about Dalek and his issues with parrots, the young animal activities involving them playing and talking had begun. Young monkeys and other mammals played ball while bat pups and bird chicks chatted in the trees. In the penguin zone, penguin chicks played with young aquatic mammals. The artificial jungle was indeed alive with the lively giggles and chatters of the young animals while the older ones looked on proudly, but there were some chicks and flying fox pups who weren't at all joyful. Sandalwood and Acerola, Altair, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola and also Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques miserably went about under the supervision of older macaws, flying foxes and penguins, obeying their commands in tidying up the trees, hollows or burrows. Envy boiled within these 21 kids as they gazed at the other young penguins, macaws, flying fox pups and other baby animals as they played and had fun. Nearby Sandalwood, Acerola and the other flying foxes' sleeping tree, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris sat perched on a branch, that very same branch some mischievous lizards had retreated to with Mina the Tasmanian devil and her cubs' meal before Sandalwood intervened and made them drop it yesterday. The four Spix macaws' faces were twisted into looks of outrage as they watched Sandalwood and Acerola, under the supervision of an adult grey-headed bat other than Sadie and Shade command the two young Brazilian flying fox pups tidy the foot of the tree.
"I hope Lusa-neem or whatever her name is and her gang are happy about this, cousins," muttered Petunia bitterly.
"Yeah, I've just seen that black flying fox pup flash those two a spiteful glance as she went past with her friends just as we were dispersing," muttered Vega, "She's honestly no different from that Isabella and her comrades back in Rio."
"This is the second time Sandalwood had been plunged into trouble thanks to a pack of lies told by a bunch of brats," muttered Deneb. Polaris, however, was partially lost in thought while also watching Sandalwood and Acerola tidy the foot of the tree. Her chin was in her wing and she was staring into space.
"Are you alright, Polaris?" asked Deneb when she saw her sister in this spaced-out state. At this, Polaris snapped back to reality and gazed at her and also Petunia and Vega who also wore slightly concerned faces.
"Um, yes, I am," said Polaris before any of the other three girls could question her, "Sorry, I've just been thinking about what Dundee, along with Kiara, Reepicheep, Flax, Harakeke and also Cody, Sparky and Lilo have been telling us about that chameleon named Dalek and why he hates us parrots so much," the other three cocked their ears as Polaris said this, "But none of them said the reason why that chameleon despises those birds."
"Hmm, maybe something could have happened to him involving a parrot in his past?" asked Vega.
"Or maybe he's been in a savage fight with one some point," suggested Deneb, "Leading to that enmity Dundee said that chameleon harbours for us macaws and other parrots."
"A savage fight?" asked Petunia unconvinced, "I don't think an event like that would have been the cause of this chameleon's loathing of us parrots. I think something more dramatic might have happened to that chameleon involving a parrot or group of parrots."
"Like what?" asked Polaris. Petunia shrugged. "I don't know, perhaps some parrots have killed his family, if he had one, and it had left him with a bitter hatred of parrots since that event?"
"Well, if that is so," said Vega, convinced at the plausibility of this theory, "Then that could explain Dalek's immense hatred of parrots," her face then formed a frown, "But that's just an idea. We can't use that as a conclusion without investigation and evidence to confirm it."
Petunia, Deneb and Polaris nodded in agreement. Just then, the sounds of small wing flaps reached the quartet's ears. At this, the four Spix girls looked up and saw two toucan chicks, a ruby macaw, a hyacinth macaw, a hyacinth/blue-and-gold hybrid and a great green/scarlet hybrid fly past.
"Hey, Petunia, Polaris, Deneb, Vega, we're gonna go and play, would you like to come with?" asked Gladion. However, the tone of voice did not sound as enthusiastic as the idea and Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris saw that the faces of Gladion, Lillie, Canopus, Mira, Fomalhaut and Gertie were as sour as Gladion's voice.
"Go and play, with that attitude?" said Petunia with a raised eyebrow and perplex welling within her. At this, Gertie approached her to explain what the group was really going to do.
"We're gonna confront Lusamine and her gang over their getting Sandalwood and the others including your cousins Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, those that had been forced to enter the Compartment of Carnivores to escape Dalek, into trouble by lying about them," she whispered, much to Petunia's shock. Vega, Deneb and Polaris also winced at the idea.
"But Gladion, Lillie, Gertie," protested Vega, "Canopus, Mira, Fomalhaut, that might not be a very good idea. What if it backfires?"
"We don't care about what that Livingstone's flying fox brat might say," snapped Canopus stubbornly, "We wanna get this message about lying about others and getting them into trouble into the heads of Lusamine and her comrades and we wanna get it into those noggins of theirs HARD!"
Fomalhaut and Mira nodded hard in agreement. Then Petunia, Vega, Polaris and Deneb flashed a glance at Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica as they were commanded by an adult scarlet macaw (other than Sardonyx or Greg) to tidy up the hollow and also gazed at the miserable looks on the three Spix macaws' faces. At this, the agreement to go along with Gladion and the other five's plan to confront Lusamine began to boil within Petunia, especially as she turned and saw Sandalwood and Acerola continue to tidy up the foot of the tree under the supervision of the adult grey-headed flying fox, a stern look on his face, as he fired commands at the two pups like an army captain. Vega and Deneb also frowned but Polaris was uncertain.
"Let's go then," said Gladion, pulling the four Spix macaws out of their thoughts. At this, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris opened their wings and took off from their perch. After they had joined them, Gladion, Lillie, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut and Canopus, together with the four Spix macaws then flew off in the direction of Lusamine and her comrades' home trees. As they passed by the grey-headed flying fox supervising Sandalwood and Acerola as they continued to tidy the foot of the flying foxes' sleeping tree, the bat said, "You kids are off to play?"
"Yes we are," replied Gladion, his gaze, along with the gaze of the other nine with him turning to the winged mammal in reply. The flying fox frowned. Under the gaze, the ten birds concealed their true intentions.
"Well, make sure you stay away from Dalek, won't you," he said firmly, his eyes especially on Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Mira, Canopus, Gertie and Fomalhaut, "The last thing we want is any of them macaws getting into trouble with that parrot detesting chameleon."
At this, Gladion's group left.
"We will," called Gladion, Lillie and Gertie together and within moments, they were out of earshot. Sandalwood and Acerola saw them leave and yearned to go with them but their supervisor commanded the two to return to work, which they did, disgruntled and sour looks plastering their faces. At the same time, three more red macaws, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were going out for a flight around the artificial indoor jungle to escape the tension existing between some of their group-mates, among them Sandalwood, and some of the artificial jungle's animals after what happened yesterday when they passed by Opal the rainbow lorikeet and Sugilite the unusually purple galah or rosette cockatoo as they talked with Mulan the panda, a chimpanzee named Herbert and an orangutan named Wally about the Asian animal presentation they had given during the lesson. Before passing by the galah and the lorikeet, Alnitak flew up to them.
"Hey, Sugilite and Opal," he said with a small smile, "Would you like to come for a flight with us?"
"We're gonna explore the parts of the artificial jungle we had not yet explored properly yet," said Alnilam.
"It would be great if you could give us a more detailed tour of those areas," said Mintaka. At this, Opal and Sugilite turned and gazed at the scarlet triplets.
"We'd love to, you three but we're busy chatting with Mulan, Herbert and Wally about Asia and its natural habitats at the moment," said Sugilite.
"Yes, we, along with Herbert here, are very curious about those areas in that continent," said Opal, "And we'd like to learn more about their climate, their habitat type and so on."
"These two parrots from Australia and chimpanzee from Africa certainly are fascinated about our species' home continent, I can tell you," said Wally with a smile. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka then gazed at Mulan the panda.
"Pandas are extremely endangered, aren't they?" asked Alnitak. At this, Mulan's face fell.
"We certainly are," she said sadly, "Due to our specialisation in eating bamboo and slow breeding rate."
"I always thought that pandas fed on other plants besides bamboo," said Alnilam. However, Herbert the chimp shook his head.
"No," he said, "Pandas only eat bamboo. Mulan and her family are supplied with plenty of that plant material, which unfortunately doesn't grow here, by our human carers."
Alnitak and his brother and sister just gazed at Mulan in awe. Then they moved on.
"Well, if you two aren't in the mood of taking a flight with us right now, maybe next time?" said Mintaka, "We'll get our cousins Betelgeuse and Rigel to come along with us instead."
Then with that, Mintaka and her brothers darted off.
"Have fun you three," called Mulan.
"Also, stay away from the penguins and aquatic animals' area, especially Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques," put in Herbert.
"Yes," said Wally, "Those four penguin chicks are grounded for two weeks."
Opal and Sugilite nodded in agreement. However, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka just breathed huffed sighs and flew on, not looking back at the galah, lorikeet, orangutan, panda and chimp as they resumed talking about Asia's habitat and ecology.
Few minutes later
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Polaris, uncertainty gnawing at her from the inside. The gnawing had grown stronger as she, along with Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Canopus, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut, Gladion and Lillie perched a good distance away from the outskirts of the grove of trees and bushes in which Lusamine and her family and friends, including her spider monkey and lizard friends, and their families lived and played. Vega, Petunia and Deneb also looked unsure and Canopus and Mira were beginning to have second thoughts about the impending confrontation with Lusamine and her gang as well. Gladion and Lillie, along with Gertie and Fomalhaut, however, wore adamant and determined facial expressions.
"C'mon, Polaris," protested Gladion sternly, "We seriously need to teach Lusamine and her gang a lesson about telling the truth and accepting responsibility in naughty behaviour rather than redirecting the trouble onto someone else. After all, they were the ones who started the whole mess through picking on that emperor penguin chick Atreyu yesterday."
"That's right," put in Lillie, "And besides that, Sandalwood and the others, Atreyu and the other three penguins included, hadn't been the ones to provoke that parrot detesting chameleon into chasing them into the Carnivore Compartment in the first place, anyway."
"Sandalwood and the others were only trying to rescue those four penguins from those bullies," put in Gertie. At this, Petunia, Polaris, Vega and Deneb gazed at the grove ahead of the group and decided to go along with it.
"Okay," said Polaris in a low and wary voice, before a frown came upon her face as she glared at the toucan chick and his sister, "But I want you both to know, if this plan goes wrong and then crashes and burns, you two will be the ones to blame," her face travelled to Canopus, Mira, Gertie and Fomalhaut, "As will those four!"
"Thank you, Polaris," said Gladion rather nervously.
"But if the worst comes to the worst," said Lillie, "We will have to flee," her face then twisted into a scowl, "But we will not, repeat: NOT… allow those brats to get away with landing Sandalwood, along with Bellatrix, Sirius and the others in trouble like how our pathetic excuses for cousins Isabella and her comrades had landed Bellatrix and her family in a sour reputation by hurling the blame for Sandalwood's incident at them."
"Let's get this over with," said Fomalhaut angrily and with that, the ten chicks set to approaching Lusamine's neighbourhood grove.
Meanwhile, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, together with Betelgeuse and Rigel, and Carmen the blue-throated macaw chick who had opted to come along with the red macaws, flew parallel to the steel mesh separating the artificial jungle from the human zone consisting of a path that ran through the artificial constructs. On the other side of the mesh, humans went back and forth, admiring gazes beaming through the holes of the barrier and at the collection and variety of animals inhabiting the jungle: both in Dundee's area and the Compartment of the Carnivores on the other side.
"It's busy today," said Rigel as she examined the number of visitors. Carmen then stopped to hover in front of a young human boy as he gazed in fascination through the mesh. The boy giggled at the little purple-tinted blue backed and throated, yellow fronted bird as she hovered in front of his face. Then after she had had enough of hovering in front of the boy's face, Carmen flitted away after the five red macaws. Further down the mesh, there were fewer people walking about and soon, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen, their gazes scanning the human zone, landed on a group of three scientist humans dressed in white robe-like uniforms. The lettering on the backs of the uniforms read 'Paradise Sanctuary Foundation' in Portuguese. Curiosity sparking within them, Carmen and the five red macaws slowed to a hover and began to observe the group of three humans, which were two men and a woman, as they talked.
One of the humans was holding some sort of paper block in his arms which Alnitak deduced was either a notepad or a booklet for he had seen one lying on one of the chairs at Susan and Lucy's cottage back in Rio, and the other man was wearing glasses, implying short or long-sightedness. The three humans were talking in Portuguese.
"Can any of you translate what those three humans could be saying?" asked Mintaka. At this, Betelgeuse and Rigel latched onto the mesh with their claws and beaks and began to listen closely to the conversation. However, because of the distance between the six chicks and the humans, it was hard to decipher full sentences but the three-quarter scarlet sisters and daughters of Io and Sheldon managed to pick out some words.
"Um… that man holding that notepad is saying things like…" said Betelgeuse, "Um…" she listened to the human as he spoke, "'We need to find mates for… that Cuban… Dominican… dinosaur… and purple…'
At this, confusion sparked within Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen.
"'Cuban', 'Dominican', 'dinosaur' and 'purple'?" repeated Alnitak, his head tipped to one side.
"'We need to find mates'?" added Alnilam. Rigel then listened to the next sentence that came out of the notepad-holding man's mouth and began to translate what she could, "We really… families of… birds…"
"This is very confusing," muttered Carmen. However, Betelgeuse had already deduced what the trio of humans were talking about despite the fragments she and Rigel had managed to pick out.
"I think they are talking about Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and Altair," she said. At this, the other five including Rigel shot her a stunned look.
"Are they?" asked Rigel.
"Well, 'Cuban' obviously must refer to Sylvester's species, the Cuban red macaw," explained Betelgeuse, "While Dominican could refer to Alegria, our Dominican green-and-yellow friend. Also 'purple' could refer to Pitaya and 'dinosaur' could refer to Altair for his species is sometimes described as a 'dinosaur-like bird'," her gaze returned to the three humans and began to examine their behaviour, "They seem very excited about breeding those four birds to establish a family of Cuban, Dominican and purple-and-pink macaws and archaeobirds in this artificial jungle…"
"Of course they want to establish a family of those bird species," said Carmen, "This place is a conservation area," her face fell, however, "But it isn't really our home. Our home's in Rio and the Amazon," her mind then flashed an image of her brother Oceano and parents Azul and Fernanda but that image was popped when Betelgeuse said, "Those humans also sound like they are saying they'd like to establish a small population of Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws in this place, but as soon as possible…"
As she said this, Mintaka watched the facial expressions of the three humans closely.
"What's up with them?" she asked, "They look so disgruntled and frustrated."
As she said this, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Carmen examined the humans' facial expressions. The two men and woman's faces clearly looked disgruntled, but Rigel sensed something about those facial expressions and their owners' behaviour.
"They look impatient," she said, "I've exhibited that behaviour before when Mommy and Daddy had a special surprise for Betelgeuse and me before our trip to Rio."
"I don't think those humans' impatient behaviour is anything like yours or Betelgeuse's, Rigel," said Carmen warily. Rigel and Betelgeuse, at this, examined the humans' impatient behaviour closely and saw that their faces were laced with sourness. When Io and Sheldon kept the surprise of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka's birth in Europa and Byron's nest from Betelgeuse and Rigel back in the Amazon, the sisters had been impatient out of sheer excitement of meeting their three cousins, and again when Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, the hybrid chicks of Ganymede and Mimas and then Canopus and his sister Katniss in Athos and Callisto's nest. But the impatience exhibited by the three humans appeared to be based on negative intentions.
"What's written on that notebook thing in that man's arms?" asked Carmen, her eyes gazing at the block of white in the arms of one of the men as he showed the other two whatever was written on it. The red macaws watched this.
"Is that some sort of list, like the one Mr Blu showed us during our flight to Rio when he showed us a human shopping for fruit?" asked Alnitak.
"He called it a checklist," said Alnilam.
"That definitely looks like a checklist of some sort," said Mintaka, her eyes narrowed at the white sheet with markings on it. Confusion then rolled through the group.
"Why would they want a checklist?" asked Betelgeuse with shocked perplex, "Th-th-this is a conservation area. Surely they have no need for a checklist."
Rigel then felt unease set in.
"We need to investigate this," she said, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"But how?" asked Alnitak.
"There's nowhere through this barrier to the outside except that door through which only the human carers could enter," said Alnilam, "And that's a double door presumably designed to keep the flying birds and bats in."
"We'll leave that till later," said Rigel with a firm facial glare, "For now, let's report our findings to Dundee and the others. I don't like the way those humans are acting regarding their goal in establishing a family of Cuban red, Dominican green-and-yellow and purple-and-pink macaws, archaeobirds and also the Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws at all."
And with that, she darted off, Betelgeuse in tow. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen followed.