The road was dry, and their hired jeep threw up clouds of dust behind them as they bumped over the smaller rocks and across minor potholes. Virgil was given ample opportunity to test his reaction time as he swerved to miss the larger rocks and craters. Scott held on tightly to his seat with both hands, his knuckles white, gritting his teeth as he thought longingly of the smoothness and speed of Thunderbird One, or the simplicity of driving on a road made of tarmac.

"Virgil, why the rush? If this bumper-car had had a roof, I would have bounced a hole in the darned thing by now!"

"Scott, if I were to drive any slower, we would be going backwards! Don't blame me for the road. You heard what Abanu said. We have to follow this track for three miles to reach the rehab enclosure."

"Yes, I heard him, and he said the road was badly in need of repair, and he also said to take it easy, or you might risk coming to grief. If we break down out here Virgil, we will be sitting ducks. We have no local guide with us, no weapon in case we are attacked by wild animals…"

Virgil grinned at him.

"Scott, stop worrying. We have the radio to call for help if we break down. We'll be fine. Just hold on tight!"

With a wicked grin, he set off again, letting the speed creep up higher still.

Monica Hayes straightened her back and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Behind her, a baby elephant prodded her in the back with his trunk. She turned and rubbed his face.

"Are you hungry, little one? Come on then."

She turned and walked back towards the large building situated at the corner of the enclosure. She grinned as she turned and saw the procession of five baby elephants trotting after her, their trunks raised in joyful anticipation. As she approached the door, it opened and two men emerged, loaded up with large bottles of milk. She grinned as her husband handed her a bottle.

"Good timing." She told him. "Young Moni here is getting impatient."

She turned to the tall, handsome black man standing there.

"Who do you want me to start with, Jengo?"

Jengo grinned, showing perfect white teeth.

"What about with little Moni here? Have you finished with your project?"

Monica nodded, holding the giant bottle in the air, and guiding the teat into the little elephant's mouth. As the baby drank thirstily, Monica nodded towards the centre of the enclosure, where she had spent most of the morning so far clearing the scrub and weeds from the edges of the artificial lake that they had been working hard to create over the past few days and weeks.

"Pretty much done…no thanks to this little chap!" she replied. "My back will be covered in bruises tonight. He wanted me to play with him!"

Jengo laughed, as he and Philip Hayes each fed their own young elephants, those hungry babies awaiting their turn gently bumping and prodding impatiently with their trunks.

"Excellent. All is about ready then. Later this afternoon, when it becomes cooler, we'll fill it with water. Give these young orphans their first splash about."

He turned his attention to the young elephant he had been feeding, still trying to suck milk out of an empty bottle.

"Sorry kiddo, that's it for now. Go on. Play with Moni and Elerun while I feed your young friend!"

He gave the little one a gentle push with his hand, and it reluctantly pulled away to make room for another hungry little mouth, ready to gulp thirstily at the delicious milk on offer.

Bottle feeding the orphaned elephants was by far Monica's favourite time of the day, and the evenings after the work was done, when she and Phil were able to stand on the balcony of the lodge and watch the orphans at play.

The sound of an engine made them all look up. An open topped Jeep was pulling into the yard from the road. Monica's heart lurched as she recognized the two young men climbing out of the jeep and walking towards the shelter.

Virgil and Scott Tracy.

She exchanged a worried glance with her husband. Phil shrugged, and returned his attention to the job at hand. Jengo turned to her.

"Monica, finish feeding Kawani here while I speak to our visitors."

She nodded and took the bottle from him. She was sure that those two young men were here to see herself and Philip. Why else would the Tracy boys come all the way out here? Especially this particular two! The one Constance had been about to marry when she was murdered, and his eldest brother…the one who looked out for all of his brothers. What on earth could have prompted them to seek them out, all the way out here in the heart of Africa?

The two Tracys looked around, awed at the place. To their left was a large fenced off area, where they could see amidst the scrubby vegetation, the vast areas of dry dirt and soil and the few tall trees, a large, shallow, dry depression in the ground, lined with something; they couldn't tell what. On the edge of the yard, and straddling both the yard and the enclosure was a large building. Built partly out of wood and partly out of dried earth and clay, it was clearly a hospital of some kind. Several people were bustling about, and aside from a nod in their direction, they were largely ignored.

Virgil gave his brother a nudge, and they couldn't help but smile at the sight of the baby elephants clustered around three people near to the hospital building.

"Feeding time in the elephant house?" Scott whispered. Virgil nodded.

"Baby elephants are kind of cute, aren't they?"

Scott chuckled.

"Aww Virge, you softie! Come on, let's get this interview over with."

At length, a tall, dark skinned man with a nice smile approached them.

"Hello, I am Jengo. Can I help you?"

They found Jengo was pleasant and quite willing to listen to them but told them that it was a busy time of the year when they had orphaned elephants in resident. This year there were no older elephants to help teach or `nanny' the little ones. Every previous resident had been healed of its' wounds; or rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

"It's been a year or three since we have had to hand rear young elephants." He told them. We had a couple of orphans three years ago, but we also had a wounded female here who adopted them and became fiercely protective. They are out there somewhere now and doing very well indeed."

"Well We really appreciate the fact that you are very busy here." Scott replied gently. "We really do need to speak with Mister and Mrs Hayes, but until they are free to take a break, we are willing to wait…"

Virgil broke in.

"We'll pitch in and help out if there is anything you could use us for…?"

Jengo's grin widened.

"Well, we could use your help…"

For the next few hours, Scott and Virgil found themselves assisting Jengo and some of his colleagues travelling several miles away, cutting down strong, lush vegetation and loading it in the back of their large truck. Virgil thoroughly enjoyed himself. Scott too enjoyed this change from their normal routine, but very quickly found himself becoming tired and sweaty.

"I'll sleep well tonight after this." He murmured to his brother, once Jengo had declared they were done, and they had all climbed back into the truck. Virgil smirked at him.

"Speak for yourself, big brother."

Scott rolled his eyes and grinned.

"You're settling in well to married life then?"

Virgil nodded, then his expression darkened.

"You know Scott, I was originally thinking of bringing Isla here with me, to introduce her to the Hayes'; then I had second thoughts. It just seemed to be…"

"Insensitive?" Scott nodded. "I think you're right Virge. Personally, I think Isla would have liked to be here, and she has certainly earned the right, but it probably would not have been fair to Connie's parents under the circumstances."

He paused, glancing unseeingly round at the stunning scenery they were passing.

"Are you planning to tell them about her? Or the others?"

"The professor's work? Creating clones out of their adoptive daughter? Clones who survived her?" Virgil pulled a face.

"I…I don't know. We don't know how much they already know. We might not get anything from them. I only think they knew something about what was going on because of the odd way they acted after Connie's death, and at her funeral."

Scott nodded. It seemed a shame altogether to hunt this couple down and quiz them about the actions of their late daughter when it was likely they had come out here in an effort to start a new life and put bad memories strictly behind them. The thing was, that the Hood had made claims that defamed Connie's character, and whilst most people wouldn't give a fig one way or the other, he knew that Virgil could not bear to live out the rest of his life suspecting that his former love had betrayed them all to the Hood. To have such an unsubstantiated suspicion was soul destroying. To a sensitive person like Virgil certainly. No, they needed to know the truth. Had Connie been a traitor? If she had, would her parents give them reasons?

Similar thoughts raced through Virgil's mind, and he found himself with mixed feelings. He desperately wanted; no, needed answers to his questions, but at the same time he was uncertain of his reaction if he received answers he didn't want. All too soon it seemed, they were back at the elephant rehab center. Scott and Virgil helped everyone to unload the green vegetation, branches and leaves from the truck and into the enclosure, where the young animals pounced on it in delight.

Whilst the elephant calves were busy with their evening meal, the next job began. Filling buckets with water from the pump and lugging it across the enclosure to pour into the prepared lake.

"Wouldn't a hosepipe or two be more efficient?" Scott puffed, as he and Jengo walked side by side, each carrying two full buckets. Jengo laughed.

"You Americans are soft!" he teased. "We had a hose, but it is broken. We can't afford to replace it until next month, so this is the next best thing."

They reached the lake and emptied their load into the depression in the ground. Scott frowned, thinking that the water level did not seem to have risen at all.

"I could always drive back to town and buy you a new hose?"

Jengo rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, but a common garden hose would not last even a day out here. These animals may be babies, and unbelievably cute, but they are also little hooligans. They play rough."

"Jengo, surely with the heat, the dust, the elephants themselves, the water in this lake will be gone very soon? Either it will evaporate, or they'll drink it?"

"Probably."

Scott frowned. Jengo said nothing but kept a steady gaze on his guest. Let the American work it out for himself. Scott looked around at the arid surroundings, the fact they had had to drive so far to find green stuff for the orphans and raised an eyebrow.

"Rains?"

Jengo snapped his fingers and nodded.

"Bingo. The rains begin in a few weeks. We are building an artificial stream from the river to feed this lake in the dry season. At flood stage, we can control the water levels using levees upstream. This lake is really to enrich their lives here. Teach them about lakes and rivers. We have another enclosure to take them to when they are bigger, that has everything they will need to be able to learn how to take care of themselves in the wild. In the meantime, elephants have long memories. Anything we can do to give them a good grounding knowledge whilst they are young. Come on, Mister Tracy. Two more trips and your friends will have the time to talk to you."

On the park lodge verandah, Scott and Virgil sat side by side on wooden chairs with Monica, whilst her husband was busy inside. Presently he emerged with tall glasses of iced water with slices of lemon.

"Wow thanks, Mister Hayes, just what the doctor ordered." Scott said, taking an appreciative swig. Philip Hayes sighed as he took his seat beside his wife.

"We've known each other a long time. Perhaps it is time you called me Phil."

His wife nodded.

"Monica."

Virgil nodded, and shuffled uncomfortably. Monica's gaze fell on him.

"So how have you been doing, Virgil?"

"Managing. Somewhat better of late. It's been hard…as you know."

They nodded, glancing at one another.

"So…? This is a long way to come…what brings you two here?"

Scott glanced at Virgil, waiting for him to take the lead. Virgil simply smiled at the couple, and they nodded resignedly.

"You came here to talk about Constance, didn't you?"

Virgil nodded.

"I was kidnapped by the Hood. He passed me over to an old acquaintance of his who locked me up and performed experiments on me. The Hood made some rather…shocking and upsetting claims about Connie that I have not been able to forget."

Monica frowned.

"What kind of claims? I thought you loved our daughter? I thought you knew her?"

"I do…I did. But the accusations have been made against Connie's character. I cannot believe that they could be true, that I could have been so blind; but they have left a very nasty taste in the mouth. Is there anything she might have said to you that seemed odd or…anything out of the ordinary that you can think of?"

"Like what?" Monica replied, "What do you want us to tell you?"

Her husband touched her knee.

"What did the Hood tell you, Virgil?"

Virgil heaved a shaky sigh.

"That Connie was a traitor. He said that she was working for him all along. That he ordered her to try and befriend me and get herself invited on to the island. The Hood has wanted the secrets of our island for a long time, and according to the Hood, she was his tool. He said that she failed him, and he had her killed for it. I can't believe that she could be a traitor, but everything else he said seems to…"

Virgil's voice dried up, and he took a long drink of water from his glass. When he looked up, Monica was dabbing her eyes and Philip had his arm around her. Monica blew her nose, then looked Virgil in the eye.

"The Hood was not lying to you Virgil. Connie was working for him…to begin with. She had no idea who he was and could not see what harm there could be in her making friends with you. That was all he told her to do at first. He pointed you out to her and ordered her to make friends with you. When she did what he said, and made friends with you, she heard nothing more from him for months. She forgot about him."

"She fell head over heels in love with you, Virgil." Philip put in when Monica paused. "It seems that the Hood had some reason for choosing our Connie…we have no idea what that reason could be, and neither did she, but he simply ordered her to `meet' you and try to become close to you, then he left well alone and gave things time to develop naturally. Three weeks before the wedding, she came to us, in tears. She told us that the man who had originally pointed you out to her had returned and ordered her to reveal important information about International Rescue. He wanted the security shields sabotaged and the communications array put out of action. He also demanded the exact coordinates of the island base."

Scott and Virgil stared at him, open mouthed. Virgil shook his head, almost in disbelief.

"She didn't do that…she didn't do it…"

Monica leaned forward and touched Virgil's knee.

"Of course, she didn't, Virgil. When she told the Hood that it was out of the question, he told her that she would obey him or she would pay the price, and it would be high. She said that he was trying to blackmail her, but that too many lives could be lost if she gave in."

"Naturally, we assumed she was talking about International Rescue being threatened, but she said no, that the Hood had proved to her that…what was it she said, Love?" Phil turned to his wife. She looked bleakly at him.

"She said that `he has spies everywhere, and he's got every one of them watched. He could kill all of them, and I have no idea what or how to tell Virge' We had no idea what she was talking about and she refused to explain. She simply begged us to go into hiding until she thought it would be safe. That's when we first came out here to work with the elephants. The next thing we knew was receiving your message, Scott, that she had disappeared, then later that you had identified her body."

"She was manipulated by the Hood, without realizing it." Virgil replied, "and as soon as she realized what he was up to, she shut him down. That made him angry and he had her killed for it."

He turned to look at Scott.

"She was a heroine, Scott. She was everything I believed her to be."

He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Why didn't you tell us about this straight away? If you knew who killed her and why?"

Philip shook his head.

"All we knew was what Connie told us. We still have no idea who it was she was trying to protect. If it wasn't solely International Rescue, who could it have been?"

Scott and Virgil stared at each other.

"She knew about the clones!" Scott said in a low voice. "The Hood must have told her about them and shown her photo or video proof that they were real and under surveillance."

Virgil nodded.

"If he made sure she knew about them, and that she was their genetic donor, then she would feel a connection to them all. She would willingly give her life for theirs."

The Hayes' blinked.

"Hang on boys, `clones'? What are you talking about?"

Virgil bit his lip.

"You have heard of Professor Lucius Tock?"

"No…wait, hang on, yes. There was a scientist of that name buzzing about that orphanage when we adopted Connie." Philip exclaimed. "What about him? Surely he'll have died years ago?"

"Afraid not. The professor is your typical mad professor, with the accent on the MAD. He's been experimenting with genetics and DNA for decades. He took DNA material from Connie when she first arrived at that orphanage as a toddler, and a few years later, he successfully created a number of clones using Connie's stored DNA samples. He was about to take his work to the next stage of creating an entire clone army under his control, using his original clones, Connie's DNA, and…and mine. Fortunately, we managed to put a stop to it. Both the Hood and the Professor are behind bars now."

Monica screwed up her face, scrunching her hair with her hands.

"Wait, are you saying that there are girls...women out there…identical in every way to my Connie? That even though she has died, she is still alive?"

Virgil shook his head.

"They look like her facially, but they are not clones like you see in science fiction shows on TV, Monica. They are like…more like identical twins. They look similar, but they have all different likes and dislikes, and different personalities. But yes, they are out there. All over the world. In a way, our Connie will never be completely gone. She was trying to save them."

Monica nodded slowly, a new light in her eye.

"Perhaps you would do us a favour when you can? Send us a picture of these girls? Or some of them at least…?"

Scott and Virgil looked at each other. Scott nodded slightly, and Virgil reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet, opened it and withdrew a small picture. It was a copy of the group photograph that had been taken at the GDF hospital of all the clone girls, shortly after they had all been rescued. He handed it to the grieving couple, who took the picture and stared at it.

"Is…is that all of them?" Monica asked almost timidly. Scott shook his head.

"Not quite all, but most of them. Keep the picture. We have to get back to town now, but…"

"Thank you so much for agreeing to talk to us."

They smiled, and Monica ruffled Virgil's hair.

"We were always very fond of you, you know. You were very nearly our son-in-law. I really do hope you meet someone else one day Virgil. You do deserve to be happy. Connie thought the world of you."

Virgil smiled.

"I thought the world of her. Despite the fact that there are so many clones of her around the world, Connie herself really was unique. We'll never forget her. Goodbye."

They shook hands with the couple and took their leave.

The brothers were both lost in thought as they drove back to town, each mulling over in their minds all the events of the past few weeks. Finally, Scott pulled to a stop in the hotel car park.

"Come on bro." he said to a quiet Virgil. "Let's get inside. The girls will have been waiting for us for an hour now in the dining hall. We'd better join them."

Virgil nodded and followed his brother into the hotel lobby.

Suddenly, several things happened all at once.

Isla cried out happily and flew into Virgil's arms, hugging him lovingly. A shout echoed around the hall.

"This is for my father you sonofa…"

Scott leapt forward protectively just as a loud shot rang out. There were screams and a lot of blood.

Scott fell to the floor.

He never heard the sound of the second shot...