“Nothing much. Just a big, deep hole in the center of the hill, remnants of the Dubois digs. Nothing worth going there to see.”
Bishop looked briefly at Lindsey and Ignatowski. “But can we get there?” he asked Mansoer.
Mansoer stroke his face. “Normally, I would say yes, but today?”
Lindsey stepped up to the man. “What do you mean?”
“Well, the weather is okay now, but for the past few weeks, we’ve had some heavy rainfall. All that water is now running from the mountains, making the water very angry.”
“Angry?” Ignatowski asked.
“Lots of rapids and falls,” Mansoer replied. “Very dangerous.”
“There must be a way.” Bishop took Mansoer by the shoulders.
Mansoer took a deep breath. “I suppose you could use one of the rafts upstream and aim for the island as the river takes you down. In the center of the island, there’s a large inlet, a crescent-shaped cove. If you aim straight for the island, the inlet will take you in, and you will end ashore in the center.”
“Where can we get a raft?” Bishop asked.
Mansoer pointed to the island and moved his finger upstream to a small shed on the riverbank, not far from where they were standing. “There’s a path down to our right. It ends at a few local fishing cabins, but there will be no one there now because of the wild river. No fishing.”
“But can we take a raft and go to the island?” Bishop asked, feeling the eyes of his companions on his back.
“You’re crazy,” Ignatowski remarked. “You want to kill yourself, and us in the process?”
Bishop ignored him. “If I were to take a raft downstream and miss the island, what would happen?”
“Nothing much,” Mansoer answered. “It would be the same when you were to leave the island again. The stream will take you into the curve, over there.” He pointed to the left where the river turned and went out of sight behind the trees. “There, the raft will run aground in the curve at yet another small fishing place. There’s a small beach where you could easily get off.”
“Then, we’ll do that,” Bishop firmly spoke.
“This is crazy,” Ignatowski slapped his forehead. “You don’t even know what you’re looking for.”
“True,” Bishop replied, “but if we don’t go and have a look, then where will we go from here?”
“I still say this is crazy.” Ignatowski turned to Mansoer. “What if you fall into the river?”
“Well, if you fall into the river, try to keep your head above the water, and stay away from the rocks. You’re likely to end up on the island or, again, in the curve on the beach. That is....”
“That is...?” Ignatowski repeated.
Mansoer gave a half-smile. “That is if the animals don’t get you first.”
“What animals?” Ignatowski snapped.
“Well, let’s see, there’s the Siamese crocodile, the Sumatran tiger who is known to take a bath in the river from time to time, and there’s the occasional rhino crossing the river.” Mansoer turned to Lindsey and gave a wink.
“What?” Ignatowski bellowed, while his face turned white.
They all laughed out loud at Ignatowski. “The animals are no problem,” Mansoer assured. “Most of them are endangered and in zoos now. The only animal you need to worry about is the mosquito, which takes the most lives every year. Use a Deet-based repellant, and you’ll be fine. I can come with you if you like. I’ve done this many times before.” Mansoer gave a big smile. “For a small price. Just ask Mansoer.”
“How much?” Ignatowski asked.
“One million Rupiah.”
Bishop counted on his fingers. “Um, that’s about sixty dollars. Sounds fair to me,” he replied, still smiling about Ignatowski’s face when he heard about the animals. “Are you in?” he asked Ignatowski.
Ignatowski sighed deeply, shook his head and said,. “Amazing, but all right, I’m in.”
Bishop faced Lindsey, who put some wait on her leg, testing her ankle. “Should be fine.” She nodded. “I wonder where you will lead us eventually, but hell, since we’re here, we better make the most of this adventure.”
“Great, please lead the way,” Bishop asked Mansoer, who immediately stretched his arm to the stairs carved out in the rocks.
“Follow me, but please don’t blame me if there’s nothing for you to find over there.”
After ten minutes, they reached the riverbank where the noise of the river made it even scarier than the whitecaps alone.
“No worries,” Mansoer assured. “We’ll be fine as long as you do as I tell you. There’s the island.” He pointed north. “But we need to go south first, for a few minutes.” They followed the narrow, muddy bank of the river. With every step, their shoes were sucked into the brown mud and, using force, they freed their feet again, and again, until they reached a small shed next to an inlet. “This is it.” Mansoer pointed to a stack of wooden beams, tied together with rope, drifting in the small cove. A rubber boat was tied to the top of the beams.
“That’s the raft?” Ignatowski asked. “A rubber boat on a pile of wood?”
“No worries. It’s very sturdy. If we were to use only the rubber boat, the plastic would puncture quickly because of the sharp rocks. This way, we’ll be safe. And maybe even dry.” He smiled again. “Can you please help me?”
The men followed Mansoer to the shed while Lindsey waited outside. The walls inside the small building—that looked like it was made of driftwood—were filled with fishing nets, oars and farming materials, such as a plow, rakes and shovels. In a corner lay a stack of lifejackets that were probably once orange. There were no windows, the only light inside filtered through the openings in the water reed-thatched roof. “We need four lifejackets, four oars and I suggest we take two shovels as well.”
“Shovels?” Ignatowski asked.
“Just in case you want to dig for something on the island,” Mansoer answered.
The men picked up the items, and when Ignatowski picked up two lifejackets, he wondered if they would float considering their weight from the mud they were covered with. He wanted to ask, but before the words left his mouth, he realized he already knew the answer.
“Let’s get this stuff to the raft, and we’re ready to go.” Mansoer left the shed with an oar in both hands.
“I hope you know what you got us into,” Ignatowski grumbled to Bishop.
“Me too.”
In a few minutes, the raft was filled with the materials, and everyone pulled on a lifejacket.
“Is everyone ready?” Mansoer asked. With nods all around, he said, “All right. Now, when I give the signal, you all get into the raft. I’ll go front left with Mr. Ignatowski behind me. On the right, next to me, Mr. Bishop will take his place with Ms. Lindsey behind him. I will untie the raft, and we will float into the river. There’s not much current in this part, so we’ll begin easy. The only thing you need to do is paddle. When I say ‘left,’ then my side will paddle. ‘Right,’ that’s your side or ‘all,’ and we all paddle. When I give the command, you paddle as hard as you can. We should be all right. Okay? Oh, and when I say stop, you stop and raise your oar out of the water. You’re ready?”
They all confirmed and got onto the raft. After Mansoer untied the boat, he gave a small push with his oar, moving the raft onto the river. The current picked up and the raft slowly drifted downstream.
“You see, nothing to it.” Mansoer leaned back casually.
For two minutes, the raft casually rocked the brown water before picking up speed. Mansoer slowly back-paddled to slow their speed. Then the raft took the first dip into the stream, and coming out of it, water bashed against the raft, then against the rubber boat and then it splashed inside as the raft fell back onto the water again. The dark brown water from the river now turned white as it bashed against the rocks rising from the river.
“This is it,” Mansoer spoke loudly over the sound of bashing waves. “Take out your oars, hold on tigh
t and listen for my commands.” They held their oars outside the boat and over the water. The raft dove into another wave, and coming out of it, a five-foot long shark fin-shaped rock appeared dead ahead of them. “Left,” Mansoer shouted and paddled. Ignatowski copied his pace behind him. Carried on top of the white water, the boat went right and passed the rock without any problems.
“Great,” Mansoer called out. “Here comes the next.” A wide square rock appeared after the raft dipped down and came back up again. “Right.”
Bishop, with Lindsey behind him, dipped their oars into the white water.
“Faster,” Mansoer yelled when the raft quickly neared the rock. He back-paddled to help the boat go left. Ignatowski followed Mansoer’s example, and when the raft lay transverse in the river, Mansoer called out, “all!” The four of them paddled as hard as they could, and the raft passed the rock with only a few feet to spare.
“Left.”
Bishop and Lindsey pulled their oars out of the water, and within seconds, the boat lay straight again in the water.
“Stop.” Mansoer and Ignatowski took their oars out of the water.
“Yes,” Bishop cried out, shaking the water from his hair.
“Amazing. We did it,” Ignatowski yelled, raising his hand to Lindsey, who gave him a high-five.
“You all okay?” Mansoer didn’t wait for an answer. “One more to go.” He pointed his paddle to a rock rising ten feet over the river. The white water bashed high against the lava rock, sometimes curling over it. “We call this one Beëlzebub. Do I need to explain why?”
They all shook their heads.
“We need to pass it on the left. After we pass it, the current will take us straight into the island’s cove. Are you ready?”
They all confirmed loudly, yelling.
“Here we go. Right,” he called out some thirty feet straight in front of the rock, and the boat slowly turned.
“Stop,” he yelled as the raft neared the shore. With raised oars, Mansoer let the boat drift sideways. “Here she comes.” Whoosh. The raft took a big dip into the white water, where at its deepest point, it turned straight again. The raft raised over the waterline, nearly vertical, only to smash down onto the roaring river with a big splash, taking in heaps of water.
“All, now, all,” Mansoer called out, passing Beëlzebub within a few feet. Now, all loudly screaming, they paddled with full force, and within seconds that seemed like minutes, they passed the fierce-looking rock, and the water calmed again.
Some fifty feet ahead, the island now showed its crescent-shaped cove, and they slowly drifted toward it. The sound of high fives and primal sounds soon drowned out the sound of the wild river behind them. Within a minute, the raft found its way into the cove, running ashore at the farthest end.
Mansoer jumped off and pulled the raft as far into the bank as he could. “Please take all the materials.” He pointed them onto the island.
“That was quite a ride,” Bishop said as they all got off.
“I have to admit I had fun,” Ignatowski confirmed.
“Me too,” Lindsey added. “Wait until I tell my children about this.”
Bishop eyed Lindsey. “You have children?”
“Didn’t I tell you? A boy, fourteen, and a girl, twelve.”
“You didn’t say you were married.”
“I’m not. Divorced.”
“I hate to break this up,” Ignatowski intervened, “but it’s getting late, so if you don’t mind.”
“Later,” Lindsey addressed Bishop.
Bishop picked up a shovel and pointed up the steep hill. “All right, how do we get up there?”
“No worries,” Mansoer answered. “Just follow me.” He followed the riverbank, and after a few minutes, they arrived at a steep staircase dug out of the muddy hill, reinforced with lava stones. “Here we are.”
The three looked up the steep, narrow staircase.
“That must be about eighty degrees,” Ignatowski guessed.
“No problem. From here, it’s easy.” Mansoer walked up the first steps. “There’s no handrail. Just don’t look down or lean back to much, and you should be fine.”
“After you,” Ignatowski gestured Bishop.
“I think you should go first,” Bishop suggested to Lindsey. “If something were to happen, we could assist you, and if we fall, we won’t take you with us on the way down.”
“That’s very gallant of you,” Lindsey replied.
“Are you coming?” Mansoer called down from the halfway point.
Lindsey took the first stairs, quickly followed by Bishop and Ignatowski. “Just look in front of you and keep going,” Mansoer yelled with actual fun in his voice.
“Damn,” Ignatowski suddenly called out as a chunk of lava rock brushed his shoulder as it passed him on the way down.
“Sorry,” Lindsey called out loud. “My bad.”
“You wanted to go last,” Bishop chuckled.
“Here.” Mansoer stretched out his arm. Lindsey took it, and he helped her over the edge.
Bishop and Ignatowski quickly followed.
“This may sound strange, but going down is much scarier.” Mansoer grinned. “Dubois’s dig number 31B.” He spread his arms over the top of the island that was covered in low shrubs, and in the center, interrupted by a square hole about fifty feet wide, seventy feet long and twenty-five feet deep. Three sides of the hole ran straight down, while one, long side was carved out in layers that looked like a giant staircase with huge steps.
“About one hundred twenty years ago, a group of at least ten slaves were scraping off layers of soil, inch by inch, sifting through the mud, looking for fossils. It took them two and a half years to dig this hole, and this was only one of the many digs Dubois managed in Trinil.”
“But this was the only one on the island?” Bishop asked.
Mansoer nodded.
“Damn.”
“What is it?” Lindsey asked.
Bishop didn’t hear her. He put a shovel over his shoulder and went on his way, circling the hole, inspecting every inch of it.
“What’s wrong with him?” Lindsey asked.
“I think I know,” Ignatowski replied.
“What’s that?” Lindsey asked.
“What do you see?” Ignatowski asked.
“Shrubs and a hole—a big hole.”
“Indeed. So, what are we looking for here? There are no hidden places, no stones to turn or messages to read. There’s literally nothing here. And I think your friend knows it.”
Lindsey rubbed her eyes. “I hate to say it, but I’m afraid you’re right.”
“Damn, damn, damn.” It sounded loud from the other side of the hole, where Bishop kicked a rock into the pit.
“I think he knows now,” Ignatowski concluded.
When Bishop returned along the other side of the hole, now and then, he turned a stone or dug a few spades of mud and clay, grumbling.
“There’s nothing here,” Bishop muttered as he joined the others again.
“I told you so.” Mansoer took a step back when Bishop waved his shovel in the air and drove it into the ground in front of him.
“What did you expect to find?” Lindsey asked.
“I don’t know,” Bishop replied. “A hint of some kind to whatever happened to Jennifer. I told you I’m convinced her disappearance is connected to your missing, isolated tribes.”
“Like the Baduy,” Mansoer added.
“What?” Bishop snapped.
“The Baduy,” Mansoer repeated. “You talk about isolated tribes. Here on Java, we have the Baduy.”
“What’s the Baduy?” Lindsey asked.
“The Baduy are an ancient people living here on Java in the mountains on the west side of the island.”
Bishop’s eyes sparkled. He looked at Ignatowski. “Did you know this?”
“Sure,” Ignatowski replied.
“Then why didn’t you tell us?” Bishop asked.
“Technically, the
Baduy don’t belong on the list of isolated tribes, so they aren’t on the NRO’s watchlist.”
“Why not?” Lindsey asked.
“Well, I guess you can compare the Baduy to the Amish in the U.S. They live in their own way, but they know about the outside world and even have contact and do business outside of their own. So....”
“That’s a common misunderstanding,” Mansoer interrupted. “There are two subgroups of Baduy: the Baduy Dalam and the Baduy Luar, the inner and outer Baduy. The Baduy Luar had some contact in the past with foreigners, but are said to have retracted themselves again for over a decade now. The Baduy Dalam never had any contact with outsiders as far as we know. Just ask Mansoer.”
“Who here works in intelligence?” Bishop asked, smiling while scratching his head. “And do you know where we can find this Baduy Dalam?” he addressed Mansoer.
“Not exactly,” he answered. “But I might know some people who do, though I don’t think you’re welcome over there.”
Bishop looked at Lindsey and Ignatowski, tilting his head.
Ignatowski shrugged his shoulders.
“Since we’re here,” Lindsey pointed out.
Chapter 17 – Chemoreception
New Haven, CT, Four Months Ago
A long, white hallway separated a series of rooms behind glass, with names on the doors like “Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory,” “Genetics Diagnostic Testing” and “DNA Analysis.” Jennifer was amazed at the number of people in white lab coats working for a company like Logynous.
“Impressed?” Mulder asked, watching Jennifer’s face.
“Surprised, I would call it.”
“You’re surprised how a tech company like Logynous has so much invested in a laboratory.”
“More like, why?”
“I understand.” He stopped at the end of the hallway. “Please, go on in and take a seat,” he said pointing into a small conference room. “I’ll explain everything.”
Jennifer stepped into the conference room, seeing an oval table surrounded by ten seats. The brown papered walls were covered with colorful sticky notes. A large LED screen filled the wall at the end of the table. “Sit anywhere?” Jennifer asked.
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