Amazonia Page 18

  All around the shabano, most of the others were asleep. A single Ranger stood by the fire; his partner was guarding the door. Kelly knew another pair patrolled outside the roundhouse. Otherwise, the rest were snuggled in their hammocks after the long, horrible day.

  It was no surprise she had nightmares: the massacre, the ravaged body she had examined, the ongoing tension. All of it overshadowed by the ever-present fear for her family back in Virginia. Her subconscious had plenty of fodder to mull through during her REM sleep.

  Yesterday's evening report from the States had not been any cheerier than the lunchtime update. Another twelve cases had been reported in the U.S., and another three deaths--two children and an elderly matron from Palm Beach. Meanwhile, across the Amazon basin, disease and death were spreading like fire through dry tinder. People were barricading themselves indoors or leaving cities. Bodies were being burned in the streets of Manaus.

  Kelly's mother had reported that so far no cases had yet arisen among the research team at Instar. But it was too soon to say they were out of the woods. The newest data, gathered mostly from cases in the Amazon, where the disease had a longer track record, suggested that the incubation period could be as short as three days or as long as seven. It all depended on the initial health of the victim. Children with poorer nutrition or parasitic conditions became sick faster.

  As to the cause of the disease, a bacterial pathogen had been firmly ruled out by the CDC, but various viral assays were still continuing. So far, the culprit had not yet been identified.

  Still, even as grim as the report was, there was worse news. Her mother had looked pale as she had spoken over the satellite link. "We now know that the transmission of the disease can be strictly airborne. It does not require physical contact." Kelly knew what this meant. With such ease of transmission, a pathogen like this was one of the hardest to quarantine. And with the mortality rates so high...

  "There's only one hope," her mother had said at the end. "We need a cure."

  Kelly reached to her canteen beside her hammock and took a long slow drink. She sat for a moment and knew sleep would not come. Moving quietly, she climbed from her hammock.

  The guard by the fire noticed her movement and turned toward her. Still in the clothes she had worn yesterday--a gray T-shirt and brown trousers--she simply slipped on her boots. She pointed toward the entrance, wanting to stretch her legs but not wishing to disturb the others sleeping.

  The Ranger nodded.

  Kelly walked quietly to the shabano's entrance. Ducking through, she found Private Carrera standing guard.

  "Just needed some fresh air," Kelly whispered.

  The female Ranger nodded and pointed her weapon toward the river. "You're not the only one."

  Kelly saw a figure standing a few yards down the path by the river. From his silhouette, Kelly knew it was Nathan Rand. He was alone, except for two Rangers positioned a short distance upriver, easily spotted by their flashlights.

  "Keep a safe distance from the water," Private Carrera warned. "We didn't have enough motion sensors to secure the perimeter and the river."

  "I will." Kelly remembered too well what had happened to Corporal DeMartini.

  Walking down the path from the roundhouse, Kelly listened to the jungle hum of locust song, accompanied by the soft croaking of countless frogs. It was a peaceful sound. In the distance, fireflies danced in the branches and zipped in graceful arcs over the river.

  The lone spectator heard Kelly's approach. Nathan turned. He had a cigarette hanging from his lips, its tip a red spark in the night.

  "I didn't know you smoked," Kelly said, stepping next to him and staring at the river from atop the bank.

  "I don't," he said with a grin, puffing out a long stream of smoke. "At least not much. I bummed it from Corporal Conger." He thumbed in the direction of the pair on patrol. "Haven't touched one in four or five months, but...I don't know...I guess I needed an excuse to come out here. To be moving."

  "I know what you mean. I came out here for the proverbial fresh air." She held out her hand.

  He passed his cigarette.

  She took a deep drag and sighed out the smoke, releasing her tension. "Nothing like fresh air." She passed the cigarette back to him.

  He took one last puff, then dropped it and stamped it out. "Those things'll kill you."

  They stood in silence as the river quietly flowed by. A pair of bats glided over the water, hunting fish, while somewhere in the distance, a bird cried out a long mournful note.

  "She'll be okay," Nate finally said, almost a whisper.

  Kelly glanced to him. "What?"

  "Jessie, your daughter...she'll be okay."

  Stunned for a moment, Kelly had no breath to reply.

  "I'm sorry," Nate mumbled. "I'm intruding."

  She touched his elbow. "No, I'm grateful...really. I just didn't think my worry was so plain."

  "You may be a great physician, but you're a mother first."

  Kelly remained quiet for a bit, then spoke softly. "It's more than that. Jess is my only child. The only child I'll ever have."

  "What do you mean?"

  Kelly couldn't say exactly why she was discussing this with Nate, only that it helped to voice her fears aloud. "When I gave birth to Jessie, there were complications...and an emergency surgery." She glanced to Nate, then away. "Afterward, I couldn't bear any more children."

  "I'm sorry."

  She smiled tiredly. "It was a long time ago. I've come to terms with it. But now with Jessie threatened..."

  Nate sighed and settled to a seat on a fallen log. "I understand all too well. Here you are in the jungle, worrying about someone you love deeply, but having to continue on, to be strong."

  Kelly sank beside him. "Like you, when your father was first lost."

  Nate stared at the river and spoke dully. "And it's not just the worry and fear. It's guilt, too."

  She knew exactly what he meant. With Jessie at risk, what was she doing here, traipsing through the jungle? She should be searching for the first flight home.

  Silence again fell between them, but it grew too painful.

  Kelly asked a question that had been nagging her since she had first met Nate. "Why are you here then?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You lost both your mother and your father to the Amazon. Why come back? Isn't it too painful?"

  Nate rubbed his palms together, staring down between his toes, silent.

  "I'm sorry. It's none of my business."

  "No," he said quickly, glancing to her, then away. "I...I was just regretting stamping out that cigarette. I could use it right now."

  She smiled. "We can change the subject."

  "No, it's okay. You just caught me by surprise. But your question's hard to answer, and even harder to put into words." Nate leaned back. "When I lost my father, when I truly gave up on ever finding him, I did leave the jungle, vowing to never come back. But in the States, the pain followed me. I tried to drown it away in alcohol and numb it away with drugs, but nothing worked. Then a year ago, I found myself on a flight back here. I couldn't say why. I walked into the airport, bought a ticket at the Varig counter, and before I knew it, I was landing in Manaus."

  Nathan paused. Kelly heard his breath beside her, heavy and deep, full of emotion. She tentatively placed a hand on his bare knee. Without speaking, he covered it with his own palm.

  "Once back in the jungle, I found the pain less to bear, less all-consuming."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know. Though my parents died here, they also lived here. This was their true heartland." Nate shook his head. "I'm not making any sense."

  "I think you are. Here is where you still feel the closest to them."

  She felt Nate stiffen beside her. He remained silent for the longest time.

  "Nate?"

  His voice was hoarse. "I couldn't put it into words before. But you're right. Here in the jungle, they're all around me. Their memories are strongest
here. My mother teaching me how to grind manioc into flour...my father teaching me how to identify trees by their leaves alone..." He turned to her, his eyes bright. "This is my home."

  In his face, she saw the mix of joy and loss. She found herself leaning closer to him, drawn by the depth of his emotion. "Nate..."

  A small explosion of water startled them both. Only a few yards from the bank, a narrow geyser shot three feet above the river's surface. Where it blew, something large hunched through the water and disappeared.

  "What was that?" Kelly asked, tense, half on her feet, ready to bolt.

  Nate put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back down. "It's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a boto, a freshwater dolphin. They're abundant, but pretty shy. You'll mostly find them in remote areas like this, traveling in small packs."

  Proving his point, another pair of geysers blew, casting spray high into the air. Ready this time, and less panicked, Kelly spotted small dorsal fins arcing through the water, then diving back down. They were moving swiftly.

  "They're fast," she said.

  "Probably hunting."

  As they settled back to their log, a whole procession of dolphins sped by, arcing, spraying. Frantic clicks and whistles echoed out eerily. Soon it seemed the whole river was full of dolphins racing down the current.

  Nate frowned and stood.

  "What's wrong?" Kelly asked.

  "I don't know." A single dolphin shot through the shallows near their feet. It struck the mud bank, almost beaching itself, then, with a flip of its tail, fled to deeper waters. "Something's panicking them."

  Kelly got up and joined him. "What?"

  Nate shook his head. "I've never seen them display this behavior before." He glanced over to where the two patrolling Rangers stood guard. They also stared at the parade of dolphins. "I need more light."

  Nate hurried along the top of the bank toward the soldiers. Kelly followed, her blood beginning to race. The guards were positioned where a small stream emptied into the river.

  "Corporal Conger, could I borrow your flashlight?" Nate asked.

  "They're just dolphins," said the other soldier. It was Staff Sergeant Kostos. The swarthy man scowled at them. "We've seen lots of the damned things while patrolling at night. But, oh yeah, that was while you all were sleeping in your beds, all tucked away."

  The younger Ranger was more cooperative. "Here, Dr. Rand," Corporal Conger said, passing his flashlight.

  With a mumbled thanks, Nathan accepted the light. He moved down the bank, shining the light upriver. Dolphins continued to pass but not in as great a number. As Kelly looked on, Nate widened the cone of the light, splashing it down the river.

  "Damn," Nate said.

  Almost at the reach of his light, the river's surface seemed to be churning, like white-water rapids over sharp rocks, frothing and gurgling. Only these rapids were moving toward them, flowing down the current.

  "What is that?" Kelly asked.

  Another dolphin bumped into the shallows, bellying into the mud, but this one didn't quickly flip away. It rolled against the bank, squealing a high-pitched wail. Nate swung the light. Kelly gasped and took a couple steps back.

  The tail end of the dolphin was gone. Its belly had been ripped open. Intestines trailed. The current rolled the pitiful creature back into the river.

  Nathan swung his light back upstream. The churning white water was already much closer.

  "What is it?" Corporal Conger asked, his Texas drawl thicker. "What's happening?"

  From up the river, the piercing squeal of a pig woke the night. Nesting birds took wing. Monkeys, startled awake, barked in irritation.

  "What's going on?" the Texan repeated.

  "I need your night-vision goggles," Nate ordered.

  Kelly stood behind his shoulder. "What is it?"

  Nate grabbed the Ranger's glasses. "I've seen rivers churn like this a few times before--but never this much."

  "What's causing it?" Kelly asked.

  Nate lifted the goggles. "Piranhas...in a feeding frenzy."

  Through the night-vision lenses, the world both brightened and dissolved into a monochrome green. It took Nate a moment to focus on where the waters churned. He fingered the telescopic lenses to bring the image closer. Within the roiling waters, he spotted flashes of large fins--dolphins caught by the razor-toothed predators--and in brief flickers, the silvery flash of the deadly fish themselves as they fought over their meal.

  "What's the threat?" Kostos said with thick disdain. "Let the dumb fucks chew up the dolphins. They ain't gonna get us on dry land."

  The sergeant was right, but Nate remembered the bodies of the massacred Indians...and their fear of the river. Was this the threat? Were the waters here so thick with piranhas that the Indians themselves feared to travel the rivers at night? Was that why they had fled on foot? And this behavior, attacking dolphins...it made no sense. Nate had never heard of such a slaughter.

  Motion at the edge of his goggles drew his eye. He turned from the churning water, and spotted a carcass lying on the bank. It appeared to be a peccary, a wild pig. Was it the same one that had screamed a moment ago? Something smaller, several of them, hopped around the carcass, like huge bullfrogs, except these seemed to be tearing into the dead pig and dragging it toward the water.

  "What the hell..." Nate mumbled.

  "What?" Kelly asked. "What do you see?"

  Nate clicked the telescopic lenses up a few notches, zeroing in. He watched more of the bullfroglike creatures leap out of the water and attack the carcass. Others joined it, flying high over the bank to disappear into the riverside foliage. As he watched, a large capybara burst from the jungle and ran along the muddy bank. It looked like a hundred-pound guinea pig racing beside the river. Then it suddenly fell as if tripping over its own feet. Its body began to convulse. From the waters, the creatures flopped and hopped, leaping at this new meal.

  Nate suddenly knew what he was seeing. It was what the village Indians must have seen. He remembered the shaman's words. The jungle rose out of the river and attacked them. Down the bank, the capybara ceased writhing as death claimed it. Hadn't Kelly mentioned something about the corpse she had examined showing signs of a convulsive event?

  He ripped off the goggles. The line of white water was now only thirty yards away. "We need to get everyone away from the river! Away from all waterways."

  Sergeant Kostos scoffed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

  Corporal Conger retrieved his glasses. "Maybe we should listen to Dr.--" Something knocked the corporal's helmet askew, hitting with a wet plop. "Jesus Christ."

  Nathan shone his light down. Sitting in the mud was a strange creature, slightly stunned. It looked like a monstrous tadpole, but in the stage where its muscular hind legs had developed.

  Before anyone could react, the creature leaped again, latching onto Conger's thigh with its jaws. Gasping, the corporal bludgeoned it away with the stock of his rifle and took a few shaky steps away. "Damn thing has teeth."

  Kostos slammed his boot heel atop the creature, squashing it and shooting entrails down the bank. "Not any longer it doesn't."

  As a group, they scurried away from the river. Conger fingered the pant leg of his fatigues, hopping along. A hole had been torn in the fabric, and when he lifted his hand, Nate spotted blood on the corporal's fingertips. "Practically tore a chunk out of me," Conger said with a nervous laugh.

  In no time, they were back at the shabano's entrance.

  "What's going on?" Private Carrera asked.

  Nate pointed back to the river. "Whatever got the Indians is coming our way. We need to clear out of here."

  "For now, maintain your post," Kostos ordered Carrera. "Conger, you get that leg looked at while I go report to Captain Waxman."

  "My med pack is inside," Kelly said.

  Conger leaned against a beam of bamboo. "Sarge, I'm not feeling so good."

  All eyes turned to the man.

  "Ever
ything's gone sort of blurry."

  Kelly reached to help him. Nathan saw ropes of drool begin to flow from the corner of the man's lips. Then his head fell back, followed by his body, already convulsing.

  Sergeant Kostos caught him. "Conger!"

  "Get him inside!" Kelly snapped, ducking through the entrance.

  The Ranger hauled the soldier toward the shabano's door, but was having difficulty as the man thrashed. Private Carrera shouldered her rifle and bent to help. "Maintain your post, soldier!" Kostos barked, then turned to Nate. "Grab his goddamn legs!"