CHAPTER 279
George Baselton sat on a creaky wooden crate slurping up a plate of runny eggs. He hunched like a gargoyle, shoving the last bits of vomit like slop into his mouth from a dented metal plate. Baselton had positioned himself strategically within the shadow of the first Chinook helicopter to gain refuge from the brightening sun. When he saw Dodgson approaching he dropped the plate at his feet with a clang and shot to a stand. The weight of his prominent belly made him teeter, and he took a moment to collect his balance.
"Lew!" Baselton spit eggs as he called and waved. He combed his fingers through a head of shaggy hair, but it did not improve its windswept and salt sprayed condition.
"Lew!" There was childlike enthusiasm in Baselton's demeanor as he hurried to meet Dodgson halfway. His gait was such as a waddling penguin, and he barely escaped the shadow of the Chinook before Dodgson swept up to him.
"Lew!" Baselton put up a pair of jazz hands as he got in Dodgson's way. "What do you think of a dinosaur petting zoo?" Baselton kept his hands up in anticipation of what he hoped would be a thrilled response. "Eh?" He continued to hold his pose. "EEhhh?" Baselton moved for an elbow nudge to Dodgson's ribs with a grin that he hoped would coax some kind of gratitude out of him.
Dodgson leaned away like he was about to be hugged by someone with the plague.
Baselton dropped his arms. "Oh come on! No wow factor? Ok ok. How about hang gliding with pterodactyls? It's perfect, right?"
Dodgson yanked away the cloth napkin from the top of Baselton's button down shirt that he'd been using as a bib. "George, you've got Tabasco Sauce all over your blazer." He wiped it away with a cold expression and shoved the napkin back at Baselton's chest. "You didn't tell me Dr. Levine was a woman." Dodgson walked away from him toward the second Chinook, and Baselton hustled to catch up.
"Does it matter?" Baselton already was huffing.
"I don't care to be taken off guard, George. It would have been something I'd like to have known."
Baselton piped up with optimism. At a large degree of effort he skipped ahead of Dodgson and stopped him with a palm. "Lew, she's gonna do great. Trust me. People are going to love the fact that a female is attached to this discovery. This is the 90's for crying out loud. It's progressive. Biosyn needs an image like that right now."
Dodgson swept his hand away and circled around him. "Don't get ahead of yourself, George. Right now we just need to acquire the assets. Until we do that there's nothing to discuss."
Baselton was about to speak again, and Dodgson turned around and stopped him.
"George, let's make something crystal clear. At Jeff Rossiter's behest you are accompanying this little excursion. There isn't much for you to do, in fact there's nothing, absolutely nothing, but stay out of the way until we're back in California. At which point you can do whatever the hell it is you do. But for now, you can shut up and stop bothering me!"