Part 34 (1/2)

”Yes?”

”This is Dr. O'Brien.”

”Dr. O'Brien!” The man began talking animatedly, thanking her, thrilled.

She cut him off. ”Xavier, tell me more about this protein of yours.” She needed as much information from him as possible, the sooner the better. If there was even a minute possibility that Dr. Reynolds was correct . . .

Lauren bit back a shudder as she stared at the crablike molecule on her computer monitor. There was one other fact she knew about prion-triggered diseases.

There were no known cures.

9:1 B A.M.

AMAZON JUNGLE.

Nate looked over Olin Pasternak's shoulder. The CIAs communications expert was growing ever morefrustrated with the satellite computer sys-tem. Beads of sweat bulleted his forehead, both from the morning's steam-ing heat and his own consternation.

”Still no feed... G.o.dd.a.m.n it!” Olin chewed his lower lip, eyes squinting.

”Keep trying,” Frank urged on the other side.

Nate glanced to Kelly, who stood beside her brother. Her eyes were haunted and dull. Nate had heard various versions of last night's attack: the strange swarm of giant locusts attracted to the camp by the burning Ban-ali marker. It was too horrible to imagine, impossible, but Jorgensen's death made it all too real.

Once the entire group had been rea.s.sembled at the swamp-side camp last night, the Ranger team had remained on guard. The group kept a posted watch throughout the night, in and around the surrounding forest, alert for any danger, watchful for any flare of flames, ears keened for the whine of locusts. But nothing happened. The few hours until dawn had been uneventful.

As soon as the communication satellite was in range, Olin had set about trying to reach the States and to relay messages to the Wauwai field base. It was vital to radio the change in plans to all parties. With unknown hunters d.o.g.g.i.ng their trail, it was decided to continue with the goal of raft-ing across the swamp. Captain Waxman hoped to get a couple of days' jump on his pursuers, leave their trackers traipsing around the swamp on foot. Once across, Waxman would keep a constant watch on the waters for any Ban-ali canoes and keep the group intact on the far sh.o.r.e until the evac helicopter could arrive.

He planned to trade each civilian with another Ranger from the field base at the mission. With these new forces, he would continue on Gerald Clark's trail.

There was only one problem with his plan.

”I'm gonna have to rip the laptop down to the motherboard,” Olin said. ”Something is d.a.m.nably fritzed.

Maybe a faulty chip or even a loose one knocked out of place by the manhandling these past two days. I don't know. I'll have to tear it down and check it all:”

Waxman had been speaking with his staff sergeant, but he overheard Olin. The captain stepped nearer.

”We don't have time for that. The third raft is ready, and it'll take a good four hours to cross the waters.

We need to get moving:”

Nate glanced to the swamp's edge and saw four Rangers positioning the newly constructed raft so that it floated beside the two prepared last night. The additional raft was necessary to carry everyone in their expanded party.

Olin hovered over his computer and satellite dish with a small screw-driver. ”But I've not been able to reach anyone. They won't know where we are:” He wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. His features were pale.

Zane stood, s.h.i.+fting his feet uneasily and rubbing at a Band-Aid on his cheek that covered a locust bite.

”We could send someone back and retrieve Jorgensen's pack with the military radio,” he suggested.

Everyone began talking at once, arguing both sides.

”We'd lose another day waiting:” ”We'd risk more of our people:” ”We need to reachsomeone!” ”Who knows if his radio will even work, what with all those locusts. They could've chewed through the wiringand-”

Waxman interrupted, his voice booming. ”There is no reason to panic!” He directed his comment to all of them. ”Even if we can't raise the outside, the field base knows our rough location from yesterday's report. When the Brazilian evac copter comes tomorrow as previously arranged, we'll hear it-even from across the swamp. We can send up orange smoke flares to draw their attention to our new location:”

Nate nodded. He had not partic.i.p.ated in the argument. In his mind, there was only one way to go forward.

Waxman pointed to Olin. ”Pack it up. You can work on the problem once we're on the far side:”

Resigned, Olin nodded. He returned his tiny screwdriver to his repair kit.

With the matter settled, the others dispersed to gather their own gear, readying for the day's journey.

”At least we won't have to walk,” Manny said, patting Nate on the shoulder as he pa.s.sed on his way to wake Tor-tor. The jaguar was asleep under a palm, oblivious to the world after last night's trek.

Nate stretched a kink from his neck and approached Professor Kouwe. The Indian shaman stood near the swamp, smoking his pipe. His eyes were as haunted as Kelly's had been. When Nate and Corporal Warczak had met the fleeing group on the trail, the professor had been unusually quiet and somber, more than could be attributed to the loss of Jorgensen.

Nate stood silently beside his old friend, studying the lake, too.

After a time, Kouwe spoke softly, not looking at Nate. ”They sent the locusts . . . the Ban-ali . . :” The shaman shook his head. ”They wiped out the Yanomamo tribe with the piranha creatures. I've never seen anything like it. It's as if the Blood Jaguar tribe could indeed control the jungle. And if that myth is true, what else?” He shook his head again.

”What's troubling you?”

”I've been a professor of Indian Studies for close to two decades. I grew up in these jungles:” His voice grew quiet, full of pain. ”I should have known . . . the corporal . . . his screams. . :”

Nate glanced to Kouwe and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. ”Professor, you saved everyone with thetok-tok powder.”

”Not everyone:” Kouwe drew on his pipe and exhaled. ”I should've thought to relight the Ban-ali symbol before we left the camp. If I had, the young corporal would be alive:”

Nate spoke sharply, trying to cut through the man's remorse and guilt. ”You're being too hard on yourself. No amount of study or experience could prepare you to deal with the Ban-ali and their biological attacks. Nothing like it has ever been doc.u.mented before:”

Kouwe nodded, but Nate sensed that the man was hardly convinced.

Captain Waxman called from near the water's edge. ”Let's load up! Five to a raft!” He began a.s.signing Rangers and dividing the civilians accordingly. Nate ended up with Kouwe and Manny, along with Tor-tor. Their two mates were Corporal Okamoto and Private Camera. The group was forced to wade through the shallows to reach the bamboo-and-log construc-tions. As Nate heaved himself onboard, he appreciated its st.u.r.dy con-struction. Reaching out, Nate helped Manny guide the large cat atop the bobbing raft.

Tor-tor was not pleased about getting wet. As the cat shook the swamp water from its pelt, the rest of the group mounted their own boats.

On the neighboring raft, Kelly and Frank stood with Captain Wax-man, along with corporals Warczak and Yamir. The last five teammates climbed onto the farthest raft. Olin was careful to carry his pack with the satellite gear high above his head. Richard Zane and Anna Fong helped him aboard, flanked by a stoic Tom Graves and a scowling Sergeant Kostos.

Once everyone was mounted, lengths of bamboo were used as poles to push away from sh.o.r.e and through the shallows. But the swamp's banks dropped steeply. Within a hundred feet of the sh.o.r.e, the poles no longer touched bottom, and the paddles were taken up. With four paddles per raft, it allowed one person to rotate out and rest. The goal was to continue straight across without a break.

Nate manned the raft's starboard side as the tiny flotilla slowly drifted toward the far bank. Out on the waters, the distant roar of multiple water-falls, m.u.f.fled and threatening, echoed over the swamp lake.

Nate stared, shading his eyes. The highlands across the way remained shrouded in mist: a mix of green jungle, red cliffs, and a fog of heavy spray. Their goal was a narrow ravine between two towering, flat-topped mesas, a yawning misty channel into the highlands. It had been where Clark's last carved message had pointed.

As they glided, the denizens of the swamp noted their pa.s.sage. A snow-white egret skimmed over the water, a hand span above the surface. Frogs leaped from boggy hummocks with loud splashes, and hoatzin birds, looking like some ugly cross between a turkey and a pterodactyl, screeched at them as they circled over their nests atop the palms that grew from the island hummocks. The only inhabitants that seemed pleased with their presence were the clouds of mosquitoes, buzzing with joy at the floating smorgasbord.