by Tara Ellis
“I counted thirteen people with him this morning,” Jess pointed out. “And they all had guns.”
“Right,” Jason agreed. “And it’s unlikely they would have left the resort empty, so we’ve got to assume there’s at least a few more.”
“That’s a lot of fire power,” Peta said, frowning.
Jason ran a hand over his face again and went back to the window, pacing like a caged animal. “Once everyone is back, we’ll go over the logistics and our approach, but it’s pretty straight-forward.”
“Straight-forward as in ‘we’re all going to die” or more like you’re going to Rambo it?” Devon asked as Marty ran ahead of him into the office.
Jason rolled his eyes at Devon and then knelt down to wrap an arm around the dog who eagerly tried to lick his face. “Did you chase the chickens?” he asked, rubbing Marty’s muzzle.
“Only a few of the stragglers,” Eddy offered in all seriousness. Sitting in one of the vacant chairs, he stared critically at the table. “Even for a first-year student on a remote field assignment, that array would be daunting, at best.”
“Notice Jason didn’t answer the question?” Devon quipped.
“Devon—” Jason cautioned, highlighting Tyler’s observation that he was not in a joking kind of mood.
Devon threw his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I’ll stick to what I know, sir. We managed to get all the animals fed, and Kamal and Amisha are finishing up in the produce aisle.”
Peta frowned. “Who’s keeping an eye out for them?”
“Kamal is armed,” Eddy replied, leaning forward to get a better look at the latest microscope Tyler had added to the pile. “I have no doubt she’s more adept with the firearm than myself, and certainly more aware of what is and is not normal for the animals in this area.”
“Paul and Mavi are back,” Devon said, explaining why they’d left the women to finish the chores. “Paul radioed when he was partway up the road,” he added, holding up the handheld. “These seem to have about a three-mile radius.”
“That’s good to know,” Jason said. Movement outside the window drew his attention, and he gestured toward the driveway. “They’re here.”
Minutes later, the other two men crowded into the room, and Tyler went to sit in the one other chair near Eddy while Peta and Jason stayed leaning against the table. Devon had migrated over to the desk and was talking quietly to Jess while she rubbed Marty’s head. Tyler had been a little surprised when she’d disappeared inside the house immediately after showing them where the stuff was stored. He figured that after the encounter with her dad, she didn’t feel much like being around anyone, or talking about it. Sitting at the radio was a good way for Jess to seclude herself.
Akuba limped in, apparently having heard the men’s arrival, and accepted the chair at the desk when Jess offered it to her. “Pikin finally fell asleep for her nap,” she explained, when Peta looked at her questioningly. “I’m fine,” she said quickly, in order to pre-empt the expected question. “My leg is already moving a little better.”
“Is this going to be a knock on the front door?” Paul asked, getting straight to business.
Jason nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking. Often times the most direct approach is the best. I don’t think they’ll be expecting it, and that element of surprise can take us a long way.”
Paul exchanged a look with Mavi. “We also need to keep in mind that having a gun doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready to use it. The, uh…followers of Dr. Davies are mostly indigenous folks and I don’t think guerilla warfare is a specialty they’ll excel at.”
Mavi grimaced, but Tyler could tell the men had already had the discussion and he obviously agreed. “I know a couple of them,” Mavi revealed. “And Paul is right. Even without any sense of fear or a clear feeling of what is right or wrong, they simply don’t have the training to be very effective.”
“I doubt your dad is much different?” Jason asked Jess.
Tyler watched as a series of emotions played across her face before she answered. “Not really,” Jess agreed. “He knows how to shoot a rifle, of course, but he was never a hunter or anything. He wasn’t in the military,” she added, looking pointedly at Jason. “He doesn’t know how to kill people, if that’s what you mean.”
Jason flinched, but then narrowed his eyes and snorted, a smile breaking and softening the hard features of his face. “Yeah. I guess that’s exactly what I meant.”
“Guns are guns,” Peta said as she moved to stare at the map spread out on the desk, on the other side of the radio. “Once people start shooting, I don’t think it’ll matter who has what training. The bullets are just as deadly, so I’d rather avoid it if we can.”
“There are trails,” Akuba said, causing everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and look at her. “To the hot springs. There is even one that leads from here, at the preserve. However, it is over two miles long, through the jungle, and is barely distinguishable from dozens of animal trails that cross it all along the way. It comes out at an open part of the resort, which you would then have to cross to reach the Libi Nati. To go that way without being seen, you would need to enter the jungle prior to the end of the trail, and then find one of the little-used paths by my village, which lead directly to the hot spring.”
“You obviously can’t lead us on a long trek through the Amazon,” Devon pointed out. “You’re barely able to go more than the distance of the house without having to rest that leg.”
“It’s still tempting to try it on our own,” Jason said, tapping at the map. “Maybe split up and distract them while we go the other way.”
Tyler imagined trying to follow something Akuba could draw for them, while also being on the lookout for killer jaguars and homicidal, brain-damaged Kra Puru people. Knocking on the front door was sounding like a better idea already.
“You don’t have to guess,” Jess said, ignoring Akuba as she grabbed at her arm.
Jason watched the interaction between the two and angled his head at Jess. “What are you suggesting?”
“I know the trails as well as Akuba, and anyone out there watching the hot spring wouldn’t be surprised to see me there.” When no one spoke up right away to shut her down, Jess grinned at Tyler and then put a hand on the map. “Why knock on the front door when you can go in through the back?”
Chapter 14
JESS
Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname
Trail to Libi Nati Resort
For some reason, Jess had thought the jungle would look different. After everything that had happened, and how much had changed, she expected the foliage to somehow echo it.
Other than the odd lighting from the hazy sky, it didn’t seem like some cosmic hand had rearranged anything. Jess knew the view was deceptive. Having grown up there, the less obvious signs were enough to put her on edge, but harder to describe.
“What do you mean, it sounds different?” Tyler asked, eyeing the huge trees and low-lying fronds.
Jess’s face bunched up as she thought of the best way to answer him. “There aren’t enough birds talking, and I can hardly hear any insects.”
“That earthquake yesterday probably has them unsettled,” Mavi suggested. He was acting as the anchor, following at the back behind Jason and Devon. As the only indigenous member of their group, he would be the one to most likely understand what was bothering Jess the most.
She turned briefly to catch his eye and then gestured around them. “It feels wrong,” she urged. Focusing again on the narrow and shadowy pathway ahead of them, Jess touched the gun tucked into the small of her back. She knew the reassurance it gave her wasn’t much in comparison to what she was referring to, but it still helped to make her feel better.
“Considering the welcoming party of jaguars we met a couple of nights ago, I’d say your assessment is probably spot-on,” Devon said, sounding sincere.
“I still think we should have brought Marty with us,” Tyler said, eyeing the
ir surroundings nervously. “Instead, he’s back getting totally spoiled by Pikin and Akuba. I’m sure Amisha will probably feed him my dinner.”
“It’s only one-thirty,” Jason said, ignoring Tyler’s complaining and moving up in between him and Jess. “Since the cats have so far stuck to their normal, nocturnal hunting, I’m not overly concerned about them. Just let me know if your feeling turns into something more specific, okay? And don’t worry about a false-alarm. I’d rather be over-cautious than caught by surprise.”
Jess nodded, relieved that he was taking her seriously. Although, he’d experienced enough weirdness that it probably shouldn’t surprise her. “It won’t take more than another half-hour to get there,” she said, resisting the urge to look back at the open expanse of the preserve field behind them. “Once we get off this trail and make our way to the smaller Lokonos, it’s another ten minutes to the Libi Nati from there.”
Jason touched the handheld radio clipped to the backpack strap on his chest. “We should be close enough to the resort by then to get through to Peta. Once we’ve confirmed our locations, that’s when I want you to hang back and let us go the rest of the way alone.”
“I told you before that I want to help!” Jess said, feeling frustrated.
“There’s going to be someone hanging out there for sure,” Devon said.
Irritated at being ganged up on, Jess narrowed her eyes at Tyler, daring him to join them against her. When he only raised his eyebrows and shrugged, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “That’s exactly why you need me. I know a few of them, and anyone who came to the preserve with my dad knows who I am. It wouldn’t be unusual for me to go there. At least, not enough for them to shoot first and ask questions later. I can distract them.”
“She has a point,” Tyler said, furthering his good-standing with Jess.
Jason was shaking his head. “You get us on the shorter trail, we radio Peta, and then you stay,” he insisted. “Once we’ve made sure it’s safe, you’re welcome to help us do the collecting.”
Jess let it go. She knew it was a waste of time arguing with him, and besides, there was nothing stopping her from following them once they left her behind. “I still don’t understand why it’s so important to get the water,” she said to Devon. “If you guys and the CDC already know the prions are coming from the Libi Nati, how does getting more of it help them? Why don’t you just send the blood you got from Akuba?”
They’d finally heard from Garrett, right before they left. He was close to hammering out transportation, but they’d have to get the stuff back to the coast, to a boat. It was less than a day’s drive though, so a whole lot easier than what they’d gone through to get there.
Devon shifted his backpack, which held some of the collection supplies, and grunted. “It’s not just the prions. Peta wants to isolate the thermophile and any other bacteria or organisms at the source. We’ll need several fresh water samples from different areas of the pool, soil samples from inside and outside the pool, as well as surrounding vegetation. The problem, is that we aren’t exactly sure what all we’re looking for, so we need to take a little of everything.”
“You can’t even see the prions with the equipment we found,” Tyler pointed out.
“No,” Devon confirmed. “But we can see a lot of other things, and it will all help. We don’t know what, if anything, could be the key to Garrett having a breakthrough. We’ll do a quick rundown with the fresh stuff and document it as thoroughly as we can. Well, as much as we can with what we’ve got, and then send it all off to the CDC. It’s a Hail Mary. We knew that when we left California, but it’s all we have, kiddo.”
Jess frowned, and had to remind herself to keep walking. She was keeping a fast pace, and knew none of them wanted to be out there any longer than necessary. It might be light out, but it was still plenty freaky. “What you’re saying, is that you don’t really know what you’re looking for?”
“I guess that’s one way to put it,” Devon agreed, not sounding at all insulted. “If we did know, we probably wouldn’t be here. Scientific research is often like that. You start with a theory…a hypothesis, and do a ton of work that usually ends up being a dead-end before you actually get anywhere. Most of it is trial and error. Unfortunately, we’re up against something new, and without a whole lot of time or resources to figure things out.”
Jess’s frown deepened. “But are you looking for the cause or the cure?”
“Both,” Jason answered for him. “With a lot of illnesses, one will lead to the other.”
“It’s called the Healing Waters,” Jess reminded them. “You know: The Libi Nati? It means healing waters.”
“Yeah, Akuba told me,” Devon said. “That name could have ties all the way back to the previous outbreaks.”
“Right,” Jess said. She paused, giving them all some time to think about it. When no one said anything, she sighed and tried again. “If it was the source, then why would they call it that?”
“Well, because they didn’t know,” Devon said quickly. “It wasn’t until the electron microscope was created that we could even see prions. Nothing like that would have been suspected.”
“I get that,” Jess said, with a questioning look at Devon. “But they still called it the healing waters. Don’t you think that means it had something to do with healing them?”
“Hot springs all over the world and throughout history have been credited with healing,” Devon said. “I doubt it has anything directly to do with the Kra Puru.”
“But what if it does?” Tyler asked. “Maybe we need to focus more on getting stuff that could be used that way. ‘Cause, you can’t drink the water, right?”
Jess shook her head emphatically. “Ugh! No way. It reeks. My dad couldn’t even touch it because he was allergic to the sulfur.”
“Well, that’s ironic,” Tyler said, and then looked embarrassed. “Um, sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Jess punched his arm good-naturedly. “Don’t worry about it. I was about to say the same thing.”
The five of them walked in silence for the next mile, and if Marty had been with them, Jess might have been able to imagine they were just out for a hike. Except for the guns, the automatic rifle, and the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn’t go away. In spite of that, it felt good to finally be doing something other than just getting by.
When they reached the spot where they needed to cross through the jungle to the other trail, Jess simply motioned for everyone to follow her as she navigated her way in between the banana trees along the spongy jungle floor. She was trying to come up with something witty to say to tease Tyler about wanting to drink the hot spring water, when another thought occurred to her. Stopping, Jess turned to stare at Devon, who almost tripped over her.
“Drinking the water,” Jess muttered.
“Jess?” Jason asked, immediately on alert. He unslung the AR and pointed it in several directions, looking for a potential target. “What’s wrong?”
“They can’t drink the water,” she said, ignoring the question. “But what about a drink made from something that grows in the water?”
Devon blinked, and his worried expression changed to curiosity. “Hot springs don’t normally have vegetation. The PH and heat are too extreme.”
Jess smiled, and then looked at Jason, who had re-shouldered the rifle. “The Libi Prani. It grows at the edge, and sometimes around the hot spring. The Lokono make a tea out of it for their ceremonies. Horrible tasting stuff.”
“It’s unlikely a tea would be able to impact a prion disease, but we’ll definitely collect some,” Jason said. “Is that other trail close?”
It was obvious he was anxious to keep moving, so Jess pushed through some vines and stepped out onto the smaller, overgrown path. She started walking before Jason could stop her, but she’d only gone a few feet when she froze and threw an arm up to signal the others.
Jess wasn’t sure if it was an animal or not, but an intui
tion she’d grown to trust was screaming at her. Although she couldn’t see anything, she knew they weren’t alone.
There was movement from up ahead. Before the person came into sight, Jess waved her arm at the men with her, urging them to move into the foliage. Grabbing onto Tyler’s arm, she yanked him along the trail with her and began to whistle while pointing at a tree. “We call this one a walking palm tree,” she said. “Because the roots look like legs, and sometimes the trees will actually—”
“Jessica!” a woman shouted, not sounding at all friendly.
Jess recognized the voice, so she wasn’t surprised when Maya stepped out of the jungle and walked cautiously along the trail toward them.
Any further distraction Jess was thinking up died on her lips when she saw that Maya was holding a rifle. And it was pointed right at them.
Chapter 15
JASON
Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname
Trail to Libi Nati Resort
Jason had no idea who the woman was, but she obviously knew Jess. He could see by the way she was holding the rifle that she wasn’t immediately planning on shooting anyone. The bolt-action lever wasn’t pulled back, and she was holding it by the stock. As they’d suspected, this particular Cured was a good example of someone who was not only unfamiliar with a rifle, but also how to properly threaten someone. Although it didn’t make him feel much better, since Jess was the one who had it pointed at her.
Devon was hunched behind a tree to his right, while Mavi was still somewhere behind them. Motioning with his hand, Jason directed Devon to move around the girl in a wide circle while staying hidden. His goal was not to kill anyone.
“Maya!” Jess called out loudly, while waving her arms at the same time.
Jason smiled in approval. She was a natural under pressure. He had the optical sites on the AR lined up and was ready to shoot at the first sign of aggression, but was following Devon’s cautious movement out of the corner of his eye. “Come on…” he whispered.