Elias did not turn toward the zoo. Mara was in a tree now, surrounded by people, noise, traffic, and fear. “Listen to me carefully,” he told Lena through the car speakers. “Check habitat three, the old transfer chute, and every service gate near the drainage line. Take photos of anything damaged. Then get the transport crate moving toward the city. Bring the blue feed bucket, her rubber ball, apples, honey biscuits, and the emergency kit.”
Lena repeated the list back to him, her voice shaky but focused. “And Lena,” Elias added, “tell the vet team not to assume we’re darting her.” There was a pause. “But if she’s loose—” “If we dart her in a tree, she could fall before the sedative works,” Elias said. “We need to bring her down first.”