Excerpt Gladiator Bear

Dr. Anna Liffey had been up unexplored rivers and down dormant volcanoes, but she"d honestly never been anywhere like the gala hall where the people who funded her work got together. Everyone there looked more comfortable and confident in this setting than Anna was. The three people closest to her were all each, individually, wearing jewelry worth more than she made in a year. Or possibly in a decade.

On the other hand, Anna bet not one of them could track an endangered species by half a paw print in soft mud and a single dropping four miles further on. It was a niche field, but it had gotten her an invitation to the Gladiator Foundation"s annual gala ball.

Dear Dr Liffey, that invitation had said. Anna had read it so often she"d memorized its words. Every year, the Gladiator Foundation invites several of our most successful grant applicants to join us at the Gladiator Gala, our annual fundraiser and celebration of the year"s work. Thanks to your tireless efforts and contributions to world wildlife conservation, we would like you to be one of this year"s special guests. Please RSVP with the enclosed SASE at your earliest convenience.

It was signed by Susan Elizabeth Connolly, the foundation"s director. She was the only person here tonight that Anna really wanted to meet, and that, just long enough to make a good impression before their meeting in the morning. Once she"d done that, Anna could escape, and no one would notice she"d gone.

A confident smile plastered over her nervousness, Anna zeroed in on Director Connolly, made her way through the crowd, and eventually stepped forward as the Gladiator Foundation"s director disengaged from a conversation that sounded like it had been worth millions of dollars. "Director Connolly? I"m Dr. Anna Liffey?—"

Susan Connolly was a petite redhead with green eyes that shone with relief as Anna spoke to her. "Doctor Liffey, what an absolute pleasure to finally meet you face to face. This is Dr Anna Liffey," Connolly said to the gathering around her. "She"s one of the very people whose work you"re enabling when you support the foundation. Dr Liffey is just off an incredibly successful venture in Madagascar, where—well, you tell the story, won"t you, Dr Liffey?"

A few dozen laser-bright gazes focused on Anna. She swallowed, and smiled uneasily. "My pleasure. Now, I imagine you know that the island of Madagascar is the only place on earth that lemurs evolved?" This got nods and exchanged glances of self-satisfaction amongst the donor class before they returned their glittering attention to her. "Very good," she said cheerfully. Asking questions the audience knew the answers to was always a good way to warm them up. "How big are lemurs?"

Another exchange of glances before a dark-skinned woman with the most exquisite manicure Anna had ever seen said, "About this big?" and made gestures with her beautiful hands.

"That"s right. Most of the best-known lemurs weigh about four to five pounds and are around a foot and a half long, not counting the tail. But did you know that up until about two thousand years ago, when humans first arrived on Madagascar, there were lemurs the size of gorillas?"

"Oh my goodness," said the manicured woman. "Did we kill them all?"

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. Or it did, before my team and I, guided by oral traditions from Malagasy locals, followed a centuries-old rumor into the mountains and discovered a small enclave of surviving giant lemurs."

A gratifying gasp went through the gathering, and someone asked, "Will we be able to go see them?" eagerly.

"I"m afraid not. Think of humans as paparazzi and the lemurs as being—" She paused for startled effect— "Well, as being you! The bright, beautiful and wealthy, that the rest of the world wants to peek in on!"

Laughter burst upward ringing the swirling steel rafters and Director Connolly, at Anna"s side, made a satisfied sound. Anna, smiling for real now, concluded, "We humans make a very dangerous kind of paparazzi, though. Too many of us aren"t satisfied with photographs. I"ve stood between poachers and their prey, and I thought I might very well die, doing it."

"Would you do it again?" A very handsome man with dark red hair and richly sepia skin spoke.

Anna met his eyes. "In a heartbeat. It"s what we"re here for. It"s what all of us are literally right here tonight to do: to stand between our incredible natural resources and extinction. There are so many amazing things left to see—to find!—in the world. The research, protection, and conservation funded by the Gladiator Foundation is life-changing work. It"s made me who I am today." Her smile softened and she glanced around the crowd, catching as many gazes as she could. "You, with your generosity and support, have made me who I am, and I thank you for it."

Applause erupted, and Director Connolly, drawing Anna away from the gathering, breathed, "That was perfect. If I"d known you were that good at charming the rich I"d have had you in here years ago. What are you doing on September 17 next year?"

Anna gave a nervous laugh. "I don"t know?"

"You"re coming to the gala," Connolly said firmly. "Whatever it takes, I"m getting you here again to impress everyone into opening their wallets. I"ll get the executive director down here to ask you on one knee himself, if that"s what I have to do."

Anna laughed again, this time more fully. "I didn"t believe he actually existed."

"Oh, like the ROUS, he exists. He"s just terminally shy. Even I don"t see him often. May I be candid? This was a tough crowd tonight. I wasn"t sure how well we"d do with fundraising, but I"d say you"ve changed the whole trajectory of the evening. It"s not your job, but I really appreciate it."

"Oh, I don"t know. A big part of my job is getting people to give me money. I"m just usually asking foundations and charities, not the actual rich people themselves." Anna shrugged too, feeling inelegant next to the tiny redheaded director. At least the enormous ferns hid her from the crowd, so no one would notice her awkwardness. "I"m good at it, though. I have to be, or I can"t continue my work."

"You have a meeting with us tomorrow, don"t you? I"m really looking forward to it now." Director Connolly smiled as a good-looking blond man approached. "Scott, hi. Is it time for me to go back to mingling? Dr Liffey, this is Scott Asher. He works with the Selkie Group, I don"t know if you"re familiar with them?"

"Sealife preservationists out of Ireland," Anna said with a smile. She shook hands with Asher, who returned her smile and dropped a kiss on Director Connolly"s cheek.

"I"m afraid there are several donors who won"t cut a check unless they feel personally attended to, yeah," he said to Director Connolly. "No rest for the wicked."

"Or for me." The director stepped back, her arm tucked through Asher"s. "Enjoy the rest of your evening. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"So do I. It was a pleasure to meet you, Director." Anna waited until Director Connolly was definitely facing the other way before she whipped toward the windows and indulged in a violent one-two fist-pump of triumph.

That would have been fine, except she accidentally punched a man in the stomach.