"What Would Dogs Do - Part 8" (story)

There were cars scattered all over Harrison's front yard and he was pleased to see almost all of his assistants were there.  He knew there was one missing but he didn't review to see who it was as he went inside the house.

A circus was live inside the house with five graduate students and twenty-one dogs.  Sometimes the dogs were saying various words but even this didn't pull Harrison far from what he needed to tell everyone.  Before starting, he noticed that Hoffman was missing.

"Has anyone heard from David," Harrison asked.

Right away, Goldberg answered, "No word and we have called him three times."

"It would be one very damn big shame if he turns up on the Letterman show," cracked Campbell.

Harrison sought to squelch that right away and said, "Take it easy.  This isn't the NSA and he's innocent until we know otherwise.  There could be a family emergency, dead battery in his cellphone, you know how things go.  Agreed?"

All of the students nodded affirmation but they weren't happy with it.  They wanted an answer and weren't pleased with the idea of waiting for it.

"I've got a bigger problem just now.  I assume you know I have been meeting with Ford and I'm not going to drag out what he said.  He wants the dogs back." announced Harrison.

"Damn," said Goldberg.  "Now what?"

"We run for it," suggested Margolis.

"We tell him to buzz off," added Gill.

Various ideas flew about the room for a few minutes but then it fell silent until Sweeney said softly, "We find more dogs?"

"That's it, Christine," said Harrison.  "Excellent idea."

"Do you mean we should find twenty-one dogs and pull a sleight of dog trick, Christine," asked Goldberg.

"I think it just might work," she answered.

"I agree with her," said Harrison.  "It wouldn't fool a vet but it would take some time for anyone to realise a vet examination was necessary.  Take a breath before responding to the next part."

He looked around the room and there was complete silence as they waited.

"I also agree with Jane," continued Harrison.  "We need to run for it.

After a short pause, Goldberg said, "Let me get this straight.  Part 1 is that we will find twenty-one Highland Terriers of about the same age as ours.  Part 2 is that we deliver them to Ford as if they are the actual subject dogs.  Part 3 is we disappear for some as yet unknown location.  Correct?"

"Precisely," replied Harrison.  "However I caution you to stay as detached in your decision as possible.  When I say disappear, I mean no credit cards, no cellphones, no contact.  We will go right off the map."

"Tell me more, Boss," said Goldberg.

"Alright.  My parents have a ranch in Kentucky and there is a quite large cave on the property.  It's easily large enough for us to stay in it along with the dogs.  My parents are survivalists and the cave has been set up for years as a fall back for any eventuality."

"Do your parents wear aluminum hats," asked Margolis, laughing.

"No, no," said Harrison.  "They look at it as realism.  Better to prepare and not need something than to be caught short.  When there are so many whackos running around with weapons, I really can't fault their logic."

"How long do you think we would be there," asked Sweeney.

"Keep in mind I'm improvising as I go along.  I had some time to think about this on the way back from seeing Ford but the details are resolving as we talk about it.  What I'm thinking is that we would be there at least long enough to see if the dogs breed true.  This will go through the second phase of the program.  Here's a twist that just occurred to me.  After we have the next generation, we neuter the first generation and return them to Ford.  That will be hard on all of us as I know we've all fallen in love with them but it just might save them."

"What about Hoffman coming up with the same idea and starting a talking dog puppy mill," said Campbell.

"No chance," said Gill.  "He only has males."

The students were thinking hard at all that had come at them in the last few minutes and the room fell quiet.  It was a huge decision to make for Harrison and imagined it would be even harder for the kids as he had twenty years on almost all of them.

Harrison said, "Let's take this to the backyard and have a break to play with the dogs.  A quick decision on this is probably not a good idea."

Everyone slowly stood up, all the while deeply thoughtful, and then they filed outside.