"Let me take a radio," Nate urged.
Waxman puffed out an exasperated breath and conceded. "But you"re not going alone:"
Nate bit back a shout.Finally . . .
"I"ll send one of the Rangers with you. I won"t risk two of my men:"
"Good . . . good:" Frank seemed almost to sag with relief. He turned to Nate, a look of grat.i.tude in his eyes.
Captain Waxman turned. "Corporal Warczak! Front and center!"
8:23 PM.
Manny and the others stood by the fire, smoke billowing around them. The pall from the powder kept the locusts in check. All around, the swarm swirled, a black coc.o.o.n, holding them trapped. Manny"s eyes stung as he studied the flames. How long would the professor"stok-tok powder last? Already the smokeseemed less dense.
"Here!" Kelly said behind him. She pa.s.sed him a two-foot length of bamboo from the pile of tinder beside the fire, then returned to work, kneeling with Professor Kouwe. The Indian shaman was packing a final piece of bamboo with a plug oftok-tok powder.
Manny shifted his feet nervously. The professor"s plan was based on too many a.s.sumptions for his liking.
Finished with the last stick of bamboo, Kelly and Kouwe stood. Manny stared around the fire. Everyone had packs in place and was holding a short length of bamboo, like his own.
"Okay," Jorgensen said. "Ready?"
No one answered. Everyone"s eyes reflected the same mix of panic and fear.
Jorgensen nodded. "Light the torches:"
As a unit, each member reached and dipped the ends of their bamboo in the bonfire"s flames. The powder ignited along with the dry wood. As they pulled the bamboo free, smoke wafted in thick curls up from their makeshift torches.
"Keep them close, but held aloft," Kouwe instructed, demonstrating with his own torch. "We must move quickly."
Manny swallowed. He eyed the whirring wall of locusts. He had been bitten only twice. But the wounds still ached. Tor-tor kept close to his side, rubbing against him, sensing the fear in the air.
"Keep together," Kouwe hissed as they began to walk away from the sheltering fire and toward the waiting swarm.
The plan was to use the tiki torches primed withtok-tok powder to breach the swarm while holding the locusts at bay. Under this veil of smoky protection, the team would attempt to flee the area. As Kouwe had explained earlier, "The locusts were drawn specificallyhere by the scent from the burning Ban-ali symbol. If we get far enough away from this spe-cific area, we might escape them:"
It was a risky plan, but they didn"t have much choice. The shaman"s supply of powder was meager. It would not keep the bonfire smoking for more than another hour or two. And the locusts seemed determined to remain in the area. So it was up to them-they would have to vacate the region.
"C"mon, Tor-tor:" Manny followed after Corporal Jorgensen. Behind and to the side, the group moved in a tight cl.u.s.ter, torches held high. Manny"s ears were full of the swarm"s drone. As he walked, he prayed Kouwe"s a.s.sumptions were sound.
No one spoke . . . no one even breathed. The group trod slowly for-ward, heading west, in the direction the other team had taken. It was their only hope. Manny glanced behind him. The comforting light of their bon-fire was now a weak glow as the swarm closed in behind them.
Underfoot, Manny crushed straggling locusts on the ground.
Silently, the group marched into the forest. After several minutes, there was still no end to the cloud of insects. The team remained surrounded on all sides. Locusts were everywhere: buzzing through the air,coating the trunks of trees, scrabbling through the underbrush. Only the smoke kept them away.
Manny felt something vibrating on his pantleg. He glanced down and used his free hand to swat the locust away. The bugs were getting bolder.
"We should be through them by now," Kouwe muttered.
"I think they"re following us," Anna said.
Kouwe slowed, and his eyes narrowed. "I believe you"re right:"
"What are we going to do?" Zane hissed. "These torches aren"t gonna last much longer. Maybe if we ran. Maybe we could-"
"Quiet . . . let me think!" Kouwe scolded. He stared at the swarm and mumbled. "Why are they following us? Why aren"t they staying where they were summoned?"
Camera spoke softly at the rear of the group. She held her torch high. "Maybe they"re like those piranha creatures. Once drawn here, they caught our scent. They"ll follow us now until one or the other of us is destroyed:"
Manny had a sudden idea. "Then why don"t we do what the Ban-ali do?"
"What do you mean?" Kelly asked.
"Give the b.u.g.g.e.rs something more interesting than our blood to swarm after."
"Like what?"
"The same scent that drew the locusts here in the first place:" Words tumbled from Manny in his excitement. He pictured the flaming symbol of the Blood Jaguars. "Corporal Jorgensen and I doused the flames that produced the smoky pheromone or whatever-but the fuel is still there! Out in the forest." He pointed his arm.
Jorgensen nodded. "Manny"s right. If we could relight it. . :"
Kouwe brightened. "Then the fresh smoke would draw the swarm away from us, keep it here while we ran off."
"Exactly," Manny said.
"Let"s do it," Zane said. "What are we waiting for?"
Jorgensen stepped in front. "With our torches burning low, time is limited. There"s no reason to risk all of us going back:"
"What are you saying?" Manny asked.
Jorgensen pointed. "You all continue on the trail after the others. I"ll backtrack and light the fire on my own:" Manny stepped forward. "I"ll go with you:"
"No. I won"t risk a civilian:" Jorgensen backed away. "And besides, I can travel faster on my own:"
"But-"
"We"re wasting time and powder," the corporal barked. He turned to his fellow Ranger. "Camera, get everyone away from here. Double time. I"ll join up with you after I"ve lit the motherf.u.c.ker."
"Yes, sir:"
With a final nod, Jorgensen turned and began to trot back toward the camp, torch held high. In moments, his form was swallowed away as he dove through the swarm. Just the bobbing light of his torch illuminated his progress, then even that vanished amid the dense ma.s.s of swirling insects.
"Move out!" Camera said.
The group turned and once again headed down the trail. Manny prayed the corporal succeeded. With a final glance behind him, Manny fol-lowed the others.
Jorgensen rushed through the swarm. With only his single torch protect-ing him, the swarm grew tighter.
He was stung a few times by bolder bugs, but he ignored the discomfort. A Ranger went through vigorous training programs across a mult.i.tude of terrains: mountains, jungles, swamps, snow, desert.
But never this . . . never a G.o.dd.a.m.n cloud of carnivorous bugs!
With his weapon on his shoulder, he shrugged his pack higher on his back, both to make it easier to run and to shield him from the swarm overhead.
Though he should have been panicked, an odd surge of zeal fired his blood. This was why he had volunteered for the Rangers, to test his mettle and to experience b.a.l.l.s-out action. How many farm boys from the back-waters of Minnesota had a chance to do this?
He thrust his torch forward and forged ahead. "f.u.c.k you!" he yelled at the locusts.
Focusing on the abandoned campfire as a beacon, Jorgensen worked across the dizzying landscape of whirling bugs. Smoke from his torch wafted around him, redolent with the burning powder. He circled around the Brazil nut tree and headed toward where the Ban-ali"s burning signa-ture had been set in the forest.
Half blind, he ran past the site before realizing it and doubled back. He fell to his knees beside the spot.
"Thank G.o.d:"
Jorgensen planted his torch in the soft loam, then leaned over and swept free the dirt and scrabbling bugs from the buried resinous com-pound. Locusts lay thick over this site. Several bites stung his hand as hebrushed them away. Leaning close, the residual fumes from the oil filled his nostrils, bitter and sharp. The professor was right. It certainly attracted the b.u.g.g.e.rs.
Working quickly, Jorgensen continued to uncover the original marker.
He didn"t know how much of the black oil should be lit to keep the swarm"s attention here, but he wasn"t taking any chances. He didn"t want to have to return a second time. Crawling on his knees, his hands sticky with the black resin, he worked around the site. He soon had at least half of the serpentine pattern exposed.
Satisfied, he sat back, pulled free a butane lighter, and flicked a flame. He lowered the lighter to the oil.
"C"mon . . . burn, baby."
His wish was granted. The oil caught fire, flames racing down the twists and curls of the exposed symbol. In fact, the ignition was so fiercely combustible that the first flames caught him off guard, burning his fingers.
Jorgensen dropped the lighter and pulled his hand away, his fingers on fire. "s.h.i.t!" The smattering of sticky oil on his hand had caught the flames. "s.h.i.t!"
He rolled to the side and shoved his hands into the loose dirt to stanch the fire. As he did so, his elbow accidentally struck the planted bamboo torch, knocking it into a nearby bush, casting embers in a fiery arc. Jor-gensen swore and s.n.a.t.c.hed at the torch-but he was too late. The powder stored in the hollow top of the bamboo had scattered into the dirt and bush, sizzling out. The top of the torch still glowed crimson, but it was no longer smoking.
Jorgensen sprang to his feet.
Behind him, the symbol of the Ban-ali flamed brightly, calling the swarm to its meal.
"Oh, G.o.d!"
Kelly heard the first scream, a horrible sound that froze everyone in place.
"Jorgensen . . :" Private Camera said, swinging around.
Kelly stepped beside the Ranger.
"We can"t go back," Zane said, shifting further down the trail.
A second scream, bone-chilling, garbled, echoed from the forest.
Kelly noticed the swarm of locusts whisk from around them, retreat-ing back toward the original campsite. "They"re leaving!"
Professor Kouwe spoke at her shoulder. "The corporal must have suc-ceeded in relighting the symbol:"
By now, the agonized cries were constant, prolonged, b.e.s.t.i.a.l. No human could scream like that. "We have to go help him," Manny said.
Camera clicked on a flashlight in her free hand. She pointed it back toward the campsite. Fifty yards away, the condensed swarm was so thick, the trees themselves were invisible, swallowed by the black cloud. "There"s not enough time," she said softly and lifted her own bamboo torch. It was already sputtering. "We don"t know how long a distraction Jorgensen has bought us:"
Manny turned to her. "We could at least still try. He might be alive:"
As if hearing him, the distant cries died away.
Camera glanced to him and shook her head.
"Look!" Anna called out, pointing her arm.
Off to the left, a figure stumbled out of the swarm.
Camera pointed her flashlight. "Jorgensen!"
Kelly gasped and covered her mouth.
The man was impossible to identify, covered from crown to ankle with crawling locusts. His arms were out, waving, blind. His legs wobbled, and he tripped in the underbrush, falling to his knees. All the while, he remained eerily silent. Only his arms stretched out for help.
Manny took a step in the man"s direction, but Camera held him back.
The swarm rolled back over the kneeling man, swallowing him.
"It"s too late," Camera said. "And we"re all running out of time:" Punc-tuating her statement, her own torch cast a final sputter of fiery ash, then dimmed. "We need to get as far from here as possible before we lose our advantage:"
"But-" Manny began.
He was cut off by a hard stare from the Ranger. Her words were even harder. "I won"t have Jorgensen"s sacrifice be meaningless:" She pointed toward the deeper wood. "Move out!"
Kelly glanced back as they headed away. The swarm remained behind them, a featureless black cloud.
But at its heart was a man who had given his life to save them all. Tears filled her eyes. Her legs were numb with exhaustion and despair, her heart heavy.
Despite the loss of the corporal, one thought, one face remained fore- most in Kelly"s mind. Her daughter needed her. Her mind roiled with flashes of her child in bed, burning with fever. I"llget back to you, baby, she promised silently.