"Pardon, mon ami?"
"Last night I was almost killed. I was hoping that you could . . . I don"t know . . . pick me up if I wandered off. I would be willing to pay for my safe delivery back to civilization:"
Louis closed his eyes. It seemed his mole was getting cold feet. He would have to warm the little mouse up. "Well, if you vacate your post, I will certainly find you:"
"Th.. . thank you. I would-"
He interrupted. "And I"d be sure, when I found you, that your death would be long, painful, and humiliating. If you"re familiar with my dossier, I"m sure you know howcreative I can be:"
There was silence on the other end. Louis could imagine his little spy blanching and quivering with fear. "I understand:"
"Excellent. I"m glad we"ve settled this matter. Now on to more impor-tant matters. It seems our mutual benefactor in France has placed a request upon our services. Something, I"m afraid, you"ll have to accomplish:"
"Wh . . . what?"
"For security purposes and to ensure their proprietary rights to what lies ahead, they wish to choke off the team"s communication to the outside world, preferably as soon as possible without raising suspicion:"
"How am I supposed to do that? You know I was supplied the com-puter virus to degrade the team"s satellite uplink, but the Rangers have their own communication equipment. I wouldn"t be able to get near it:"
"Noprobleme. You get that virus planted and leave the Rangers to me:"
"But-"
"Have faith. You are never alone:"
The line was silent again. Louis smiled. His words had not rea.s.sured his agent.
"Update me again tonight," Louis said.
A pause. "I"ll try."
"Don"t try. . . do."
"Yes, Doctor." The line went dead.
Louis lowered the radio and strode to Jacques. "We should be under way. The other team has a good start on us:"
"Yes, sir:" Jacques retreated to gather and organize his men.
Louis noticed that Tshui still stood by the impaled creature. If he wasn"t mistaken, there was a trace of fear in the woman"s eyes. But Louis wasn"t sure. How could he be? He had never seen such an emotion dis-played by the Indian witch. He crossed to her and pulled her into his arms.
She trembled ever so slightly under his hand.
"Hush,ma cherie. There is nothing to fear:"
Tshui leaned against him, but her eyes flicked to the stake. She pulled tighter to him, a slight moan escaping her lips.
Louis frowned. Maybe he should heed his lover"s unspoken warning. From here, they should proceed with more caution, more stealth. The other team had almost been destroyed by these aquatic predators,some-thing never seen before. A clear sign they were probably on the right path.But what if there are more hidden dangers out there?
As he pondered this risk, he realized his team possessed a certain inherent advantage. Last night, it had taken all his opponents" cunning and ingenuity to survive the a.s.sault-a battle which inadvertently had opened a safer path for Louis"s group to follow. So why not again? Why not let the other team flush out any other threats?
Louis mumbled, "Then we"ll waltz in over their dead bodies and col-lect the prize:" Pleased once again, he leaned and kissed the top of Tshui"s head. "Fear not, my love. We cannot lose:"
10:09 A. M.
HOSPITAL WARD OF THE INSTAR INSt.i.tUTE.
LANGLEY VIRGINIA.
Lauren O"Brien sat beside the bed, a book forgotten in her lap. Dr. Seuss"sGreen Eggs and Ham, Jessie"s favorite. Her grandchild was asleep, curled on her side. Her fever had broken with the rising of the sun. The c.o.c.ktail of anti-inflammatories and antipyretics had done the job, slowly dropping the child"s temperature from 102 back to 98.6. No one was sure if Jessie had contracted the jungle contagion-childhood fevers were common and plentiful-but no one was taking any chances.
The ward in which her granddaughter now slept was a closed sys-tem, sealed and vented against the spread of any potential germ. Lauren herself wore a one-piece disposable quarantine suit, outfitted with a self-breathing mask. She had refused at first, fearing the garb would further alarm Jessie. But policy dictated that all hospital staff and visitors wear proper isolation gear.
When Lauren had first entered the room, all suited up, Jessie had indeed appeared frightened, but the clear faceplate of the mask and a few rea.s.suring words calmed her. Lauren had remained bedside all morning as Jessie was examined, blood samples collected, and drugs administered. With the resilience of the young, she now slept soundly.
A slightwhoosh announced a newcomer to the room. Lauren awk-wardly turned in her suit. She saw a familiar face behind another mask. She placed the book on a table and stood. "Marshall:"
Her husband crossed to her and enveloped her in his plastic-clad arms. "I read her chart before coming in," he said, his voice sounding slightly tinny and distant. "Fever"s down:"
"Yes, it broke a couple of hours ago:"
"Any word yet on the lab work?" Lauren heard the fear in his voice.
"No . . . it"s too soon to tell if this is the plague:" Without knowing the causative agent, there was no quick test. Diagnosis was made on a trio of clinical signs: oral ulcerations, tiny submucosal hemorrhages,and a dra-matic drop in total white blood cell counts. But these symptoms typically would not manifest until thirty-six hours after the initial fever. It would be a long wait. Unless . . .
Lauren tried to change the subject. "How did your conference call go with the CDC and the folks in the Cabinet?"
Marshall shook his head. "A waste of time. It"ll be days until all the pol-iticking settles and a true course of action can be administered. The only good news is that Blaine at the CDC supported my idea to close Florida"s border. That surprised me:"
"It shouldn"t," Lauren said. "I"ve been sending him case data all week. including what"s happening in Brazil. The implications are pretty d.a.m.n frightening."
"Well, you must have shaken him up:" He squeezed her hand. "Thanks:"
Lauren let out a long rattling sigh as she stared at the bed.
"Why don"t you take a break? I can watch over Jessie for a while. You should try to catch a nap.
You"ve been up all night:"
"I"ll never be able to sleep:"
Marshall put his arm around her waist. "Then at least get some coffee and a little breakfast. We have the midday call with Kelly and Frank sched-uled in a couple hours:"
Lauren leaned against him. "What are we going to tell Kelly?"
"The truth. Jessie has a fever, but it"s nothing to panic about. We still don"t know for sure if it"s the disease or not:"
Lauren nodded. They remained silent for a bit, then Marshall guided her gently to the door. "Go:"
Lauren pa.s.sed through the air-locked doors and crossed down the hall to the locker room, where she stripped out of the suit and changed into scrubs. As she left the locker room, she stopped by the nurses"
station. "Did any of the labs come back yet?"
A small Asian nurse flipped a plastic case file to her. "These were faxed just a minute ago:"
Lauren flipped the file open and thumbed to the page of blood chemistries and hematology results. Her finger ran down the long list. The chemistries were all normal, as expected. But her nail stopped at the line for the total white blood cell count:
TWBC: 2130 (L) 6,000-15,000.
It was low, significantly low, one of the trio of signs expected with the plague.
With her finger trembling, she ran down the report to the section that detailed the different white bloodcell levels. There was one piece of news that the team"s epidemiologist, Dr. Alvisio, had mentioned to her late last night, a possible pattern in the lab data that his computer model for the disease had noted: an unusual spike of a specific line of white blood cells,basophils, that occurred early in the disease as the total white blood cell levels were dropping. Though it was too soon to say for certain, it seemed to be consistent in all cases of the disease. It was perhaps a way to acceler-ate early detection.
Lauren read the last line.
Basophil count: 12 (H) 0-4
"Oh, G.o.d:" She lowered the chart to the nurses" station. Jessie"s basophil levels were spiked above normal, well above normal.
Lauren closed her eyes.
"Are you okay, Dr. O"Brien?"
Lauren didn"t hear the nurse. Her mind was too full of a horrifying realization: Jessie had the plague.
1 1:48 A.M.
AMAZON JUNGLE.
Kelly followed the line of the others, bone tired but determined to keep moving. They had been walking all night with frequent rest breaks. After the attack, they had marched for a solid two hours, then made a temporary camp at dawn while the Rangers contacted the field base in Wauwai. They had decided to push on until at least midday, when they would use the satellite link to contact the States. Afterward, the team would rest the remainder of the day, regroup, and decide how to proceed.
Kelly glanced at her watch. Noon approached.Thank G.o.d. Already she heard Waxman grumbling about choosing a site for the day"s camp. "Well away from any waterways," she heard him warn.
All day long, the team had been wary of streams and pools, skirting them or crossing in a mad rush. But there were no further attacks.
Manny had offered a reason. "Perhaps the creatures were local to just that small territory. Maybe that"s why the b.u.g.g.e.rs were never seen before:"
"If so, good riddance," Frank had voiced sourly.
They had trudged onward, the morning drizzle drying slowly to a thick humid mist. The moisture weighedeverything down: clothes, packs, boots. But no one complained about the march. All were glad to put dis-tance between them and the horror of the previous night.
From up ahead, a Ranger scout called back. "A clearing!" It was Corpo-ral Warczak. As the unit"s tracker, his scouting served double duty. He was also watching for any physical evidence of Gerald Clark"s pa.s.sage. "The spot looks perfect for a campsite!"
Kelly sighed. "About time:"
"Check it out!" Waxman said. "Make sure there are no close streams:"
"Yes, sir! Kostos is already reconnoitering the area:"
Nate, just a couple steps ahead of her, called forward, "Be careful There could be-"
A pained shout rose from ahead.
Everyone froze, except Nate who rushed forward. "d.a.m.n it, doesn"t anyone listen to what I tell them?"
he muttered as he ran. He glanced back to Kelly and Kouwe and waved an arm. "We"ll need your help!
Both of you."
Kelly moved to follow. "What is it?" she asked Kouwe.
The Indian professor was already slinging his pack forward and work-ing the straps loose."Supay chacra, I"d imagine. The devil"s garden. C"mon:"
Devil"s garden?Kelly did not like the sound of that.
Captain Waxman ordered the bulk of his Rangers to remain with the other civilians. He and Frank joined in following Nate.
Kelly hurried forward and saw a pair of Rangers on the ground ahead They seemed to be fighting, one rolling in the dirt, the other striking him with the flat of his hand.
Nate ran toward them.
"Get these G.o.dd.a.m.n s.h.i.ts off me!" the Ranger on the ground yelled, rolling through the underbrush. It was Sergeant Kostos.
"I"m trying," Corporal Warczak replied, continuing to slap at the man.