Part 46 (1/2)

”That's good news,” Kouwe said tightly.

Nate recognized the tension in the other's voice. ”What's the matter?”

Kouwe frowned. ”Something I can't exactly put my finger on.”

”Maybe I can help:” Nate glanced to the laptop, then unplugged the device from the solar cells. With night approaching, juice would not be flowing anyway. He checked the laptop's battery and then tucked it under his arm. ”I think it's time we all compared notes:'

Kouwe nodded. ”It's why Kelly and I came down. We have our own news.

Again, Nate saw the worried look on the professor's face. As Nate stood up, he was sure his ownexpression mirrored Kouwe's. ”Let's get everyone together.”

The pair ducked out of the cabin and into the late afternoon suns.h.i.+ne. Free of the stifling cabin, they felt almost chilled by the slight breezes. Nate crossed over to where Kelly and Sergeant Kostos were talking.

Manny and Camera had joined them.

A few steps away stood one of the Ban-all tribesmen. It took Nate a moment to recognize him. It was their guide from earlier. He had washed off the black camouflagepaint, revealing brown skin and a crimson tattoo on his bare chest.

Nate nodded to Kelly as he stopped beside them. ”I heard that Frank is doing better.”

Her face was pale, distracted. ”For the moment:” She noticed the lap-top under his arm. ”Were you able to learn anything about your father?”

Nate sighed. ”I think everyone should hear this:”

”It's time we put a plan together anyway,” Sergeant Kostos said. ”Night is coming.

Kouwe pointed to the three-story dwelling in the towering nightcap oak. ”Let's get everyone up to the dwelling:”

No one objected. In short order, the group mounted the long ladder and headed up the tree. Tor-tor remained below, on guard. Nate glanced down as he climbed. The jaguar was not alone down there. The Ban-ali tribesman stayed at the foot of the ladder, plainly a.s.signed to their group.

Reaching the top of the ladder, Nate climbed onto the decking of the abode. The entire party cl.u.s.tered on the deck or stood inside the doorway to the lowermost level, a communal room. Above, the two other levels were a honeycomb of smaller, more private chambers, each with its own tiny deck or patio.

The tree house had clearly been some family's domicile, comman-deered for their use. Personal touches abounded: bits of pottery and wooden utensils, decorations done in feathers and flowers, abandoned hammocks, tiny carved animal figurines. Even the smell of the place was not the deserted mustiness of the tiny cabin, but the subtle scent of life. Old cooking spices and oils, a hint of bodily odors.

Anna Fong crossed to him. She had a platter of sliced figs. ”One of the Indian women dropped off some supplies. Fruits and cooked yams. Bits of dried meat:”

Nate remembered his thirst and took one of the moist fruits, biting deep into it, juice dribbling down his chin. Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, he asked, ”How's Olin doing with the GPS signal?”

”Still working on it,” she said in a hushed, scared voice. ”But from the amount of swearing, it doesn't sound good:'

Kostos raised his voice from the doorway. ”Everyone gather inside!”

As he stepped aside, the party moved into the common room. Inside, Nate saw the other platters of food. Even a few pails of a dark liquid, smelling of fermentation.

Professor Kouwe examined one pail's contents and turned to Nate in surprise. ”It's ca.s.siri!” ”What's that?” Kostos asked from the doorway as he closed the flap.

”Ca.s.sava beer,” Nate explained. ”An alcoholic staple of many native tribes:”

”Beer?” the sergeant's eyes brightened. ”Really?”

Kouwe scooped up a ladleful of the dark amber liquid and poured it into a mug. Nate saw bits of slimy ca.s.sava root floating in the pail. The professor pa.s.sed the mug to the sergeant.

He sniffed it, nose curling in disgust, but he took a deep swig anyway. ”Ugh!” He shook his head.

”It's an acquired taste;” Nate said, scooping a mug for himself and sip-ping it. Manny did the same.

”Women make it by chewing up ca.s.sava root and spitting it into a pail. The enzymes in their saliva aid in the fermenta-tion process:”

Kostos crossed to the pail and dumped the contents of his mug back into the pail. ”I'll take a Budweiser any day”

Nate shrugged.

Around the room, the others sampled the fare for a bit, then began to settle to woven mats on the floor.

Everyone looked exhausted. They all needed a decent night's sleep.

Nate set up the laptop on an overturned stone pot.

As he opened it and turned it on, Olin looked at it hungrily, his eyes red. ”Maybe I can cannibalize some circuitry for the communication array.” He s.h.i.+fted nearer.

But Nate held him off. ”The computer is five years old. I doubt you'll find much to use, and right now its contents are more important than our own survival:”

His words drew everyone's attention. He eyed them all. ”I know what happened to the other expedition team. And if we don't want to end up like them, we should pay attention to its lessons:”

Kouwe spoke up. ”What happened?”

Nate took a deep breath, then began, nodding to the open journal file on the laptop. ”It's all here. My father's expedition heard rumors of the Ban-ali and met an Indian who said he could take the research team totheir lands. My father could not resist the possibility of encountering a new tribe and took the team off course. Within two days, they were attacked by the same mutated species as we were:'

Murmurs arose from the others. Manny raised his hand as if he were in cla.s.s. ”I found where they incubate those b.u.g.g.e.rs. At least the locusts and piranhas.” He described what he and Private Camera had discovered. ”I've got my own theories about the beasts:”

Kouwe interrupted. ”Before we get into theories and conjectures, let's first hear what we know for sure:”

The professor nodded to Nate. ”Go on. What happened after the attack?”

Nate took another breath. The tale was not an easy one to tell. ”Of the party, all were killed except Gerald Clark, my father, and two other researchers. They were captured by the Ban-ali trackers. Myfather was able to communicate with them and get them to spare their lives. From my father's notes, I guess the Ban-ali native tongue is close enough to Yanomamo:”

Kouwe nodded. ”It does bear a resemblance. And isolated as the tribe is, the presence of a white man who could speak the tongue of the Ban-ali would surely give them pause. I'm not surprised your father and the sur-vivors were spared:”

The little good it did,Nate thought sourly, then continued, ”The remaining party were all badly injured, but once here, their wounds were healed. Miraculously, according to my father's notes: gashes sealed without scarring, broken bones mended in less than a week's time, even chronic ail-ments, like one team member's heart murmur, faded away. But the most amazing transformation was in Gerald Clark:”

”His arm,” Kelly said, sitting up straighter.

”Exactly. Within a few weeks here, his amputated stump began to split, bleed, and sprout a raw tumorous growth. One of the survivors was a med-ical doctor. He and my father examined the change.

The growth was a ma.s.s of undifferentiated stem cells. They were sure it was some malignant growth.

There was even talk of trying to surgically remove it, but they had no tools. Over the next weeks, slow changes became apparent. The ma.s.s slowly elongated, growing skin on the outside:”

Kelly's eyes widened. ”The arm was regenerating.”

Nate nodded and turned. He scrolled down the computer journal to the day almost three years ago. He read aloud his father's words. ” 'Today it became clear to Dr. Chandler and me that the tumor plaguing Clark is in fact a regeneration unlike any seen before. Talk of escape has been put on hold until we see how this ends. It's a miracle that is worth the risk. The Ban-ali continue to remain accommodating captors, allowing us free run of the valley, but banning us from leaving. And with the giant cats prowling the lower chasm, escape seems impossible for the moment anyway.