Part 33 (1/2)
But deep in her heart, she now wondered if it was a pact she could keep. With each step deeper into the forest, more men died.Graves, DeMartini, Conger, Jones . . . and now Jorgensen . . .
She shook her head, refusing to give up hope. As long as she was alive, putting one foot in front of theother, she would find a way home.
Over the next hour, the group forged through the forest, following the path the other half of their team had taken the previous afternoon. One by one, their torches flickered out. Flashlights were pa.s.sed around. So far, no sign of renewed pursuit by the swarm manifested. Maybe they were safe, beyond the interest of the blind locusts, but no one voiced such a hope aloud.
Manny marched close to the Ranger. ”What if we miss the other team?” he asked softly. ”Jorgensen had our radio equipment. It was our only way of contacting the outside world:”
Kelly hadn't considered this fact. With the radio gone, they were cut off.
”We'll reach the others,” Camera said with a steely determination.
No one argued with her. No one wanted to.
They marched onward through the dark jungle, concentrating on just moving forward. As hours ticked by, the tension blended into a blur of bone-weary exhaustion and endless fear. Their pa.s.sage was marked with hoots and strange cries. Everyone's ears were p.r.i.c.ked for the telltale buzz of the locusts.
So they were all startled when the small personal radio hanging from Private Camera's field jacket squawked with static and a few scratchy words. ”This is . . . if you can hear . . . radio range. . :”
Everyone swung to face the Ranger, eyes wide. She pulled her radio's microphone from her helmet to her mouth. ”This is Private Camera. Can you hear me?Over:”
There was a long pause, then. . . ”Read you, Camera. Warczak here. What's your status?”
The Ranger quickly related the events in a dispa.s.sionate and profes-sional manner. But Kelly saw how the soldier's fingers trembled as she held the microphone to her lips. She finished, ”We're following your trail. Hop-ing to rendezvous with the main team in two hours.”
Corporal Warczak responded, ”Roger that. Dr. Rand and I are already under way to meet you. Over and out:'
The Ranger closed her eyes and sighed loudly. ”We're gonna be okay,” she whispered to no one in particular.
As the others murmured in relief, Kelly stared out at the dark jungle.
Out here in the Amazon, they were all far from okay.
ACT FOUR-Blood Jaguars.
HORSETAIL.
FAMILY:Equisetaceae.
GENUS:EqUlSetum.
SPECIES:Arvense.
COMMON NAME:Field Horsetail.
ETHNIC NAMES:At Quyroughi, Atkuyrugu, Chieh Hsu Ts'Ao, Cola de Caballo, Equiseto Menor, Kilkah Asb, Prele, Sugina, Thanab al Khail, Vara de Oro, Wen Ching
PROPERTIES/ACTIONS:Astringent, Antiinflammatory, Diuretic, Antihemorrhagic.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
Lake Crossing.
AUGUST 15, B:i i A.M.
INSTAR INSt.i.tUTE.
LANGLEY VIRGINIA.
Lauren slid the magnetic security card through the lock on her office door and entered. It was the first chance she'd had to return to her office in the past day. Between stretches in the inst.i.tute's hospital ward visiting Jessie and meetings with various MEDEA members, she hadn't had a moment to herself. The only reason she had this free moment was that Jessie seemed to be doing very well. Her temperature continued to remain normal, and her att.i.tude was growing brighter with every pa.s.sing hour.
Cautiously optimistic, Lauren began to hope that her initial diagnosis had been mistaken. Maybe Jessie did not have the jungle disease. Lauren was now glad she had kept silent about her fears. She could have needlessly panicked Marshall and Kelly. Lauren may have indeed placed too much confidence in Alvisio's statistical model. But she could not fault the epi-demiologist. Dr. Alvisiohad indeed warned her his results were far from conclusive. Further data would need to be collected and correlated.
But then again, that pretty much defined all the current levels of inves-tigation. Each day, as the disease spread through Florida and the southern states, thousands of theories were bandied about: etiological agents, thera-peutic protocols, diagnostic parameters, quarantine guidelines. Instar had become the nation's think tank on this contagion. It was their job to ferret through the maze of scientific conjecture and fanciful epidemiological models to glean the pearls from the rubbish. It was a daunting task as data flowed in from all corners of the country. But they had the best minds here.