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  Kelly continued, "Unfortunately, Gerald Clark died at a missionary settlement before he could indicate where he had come from. The goal of our operation is to backtrack this latest trail to find out what happened. We were hoping that as the son of Carl Rand, you'd be interested in cooperating with our search."

  A silence descended over the table.

  Frank cleared his throat, adding, "Dr. Rand, not only are you an expert on the jungle and its indigenous tribes, but you also knew your father and his team better than anyone. Such knowledge could prove an asset during this deep-jungle search."

  Nathan was still too stunned to speak or answer. Professor Kouwe was not. He spoke calmly. "I can see why Tellux Pharmaceuticals is invested in this matter." Kouwe nodded to Richard Zane, who smiled back at the professor. "They were never one to pass up a chance to profit from another's tragedy."

  Zane's smile soured.

  Kouwe continued, now turning his attention to Frank and Kelly. "But why is this matter of interest to the CIA's Environmental Center? And what's the rationale for assigning an Army Ranger unit to the mission?" He turned to the military man, raising a single eyebrow. "Would either of you two or the captain here wish to elaborate?"

  Frank's brow wrinkled at the quick and piercing assessment from the professor. Kelly's eyes sparked.

  She answered. "Besides being an ex-soldier and a weapons expert, Gerald Clark was also a CIA operative. He was sent along with the expedition to gather intelligence on the cocaine shipment routes through the rain forest basin."

  Frank glanced quickly at Kelly, as if this bit of information were given a bit too freely.

  She ignored her brother and continued. "But any further elaboration will only be given if Dr. Rand agrees to join our operation. Otherwise, additional details will be restricted."

  Kouwe, his eyes bright with warning, glanced to Nathan.

  Nate took a deep breath. "If there's any hope of finding out what happened to my father, then I can't pass up this chance." He turned to his two friends. "You both know I can't."

  Nathan stood and faced the table. "I'll go."

  Manny shoved out of his chair. "Then I'm going with him." He faced the others and continued before anyone could object. "I've already talked to my superiors in Brasilia. As chief representative of FUNAI here, I have the power at my discretion to place any restrictions or qualifications on this mission."

  Frank nodded. "So we were informed an hour ago. It's your choice. Either way, you'll have no objection from me. I read your file. Your background as a biologist could prove useful."

  Next, Professor Kouwe stood up and placed a hand on Nate's shoulder. "Then perhaps you could use an expert in linguistics also."

  "I appreciate your offer." Frank waved to the small Asian woman. "But we do have that covered. Dr. Anna Fong is an anthropologist with a specialty in indigenous tribes. She speaks a dozen different dialects."

  Nathan scoffed, "No offense to Dr. Fong, but Professor Kouwe speaks over a hundred and fifty. There is no better expert in the field."

  Anna spoke up, her voice soft and sweet. "Dr. Rand is most correct. Professor Kouwe is world renowned for his knowledge of the Amazon's indigenous tribes. It would be a privilege to have his cooperation."

  "And it seems," Kelly added with a respectful nod toward the older man, "the good professor is also a distinguished expert on botanical medicines and jungle diseases."

  Kouwe bowed his head in her direction.

  Kelly turned to her brother. "As the expedition's medical doctor, I wouldn't mind having him along either."

  Frank shrugged. "What's one more?" He faced Nathan. "Is this acceptable to you?"

  Nathan glanced to his right and left. "Of course."

  Frank nodded and raised his voice. "Let's all get back to work then. Discovering Dr. Rand here in the city has accelerated our schedule. We've a lot to accomplish in order to be under way at the crack of dawn tomorrow." As the others began to disperse, Frank turned to Nathan. "Now let's see if we can't get a few more of your questions answered."

  He and his sister led the way toward one of the back offices.

  Nate and his two friends followed.

  Manny glanced over his shoulder to the bustling room. "Just what the hell have we volunteered for?"

  "Something amazing," Kelly answered from ahead, holding open the office door. "Step inside and I'll show you."

  Nathan clutched the photos of Agent Clark and passed them around to the others. "And you're telling me this man actually grew his arm back?"

  Frank stepped around the desk and took a seat. "So it would seem. It's been verified by fingerprints. The man's body was shipped today from the morgue in Manaus back to the States. His remains are due to be examined tomorrow at a private research facility sponsored by MEDEA."

  "MEDEA?" Manny asked. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

  Kelly answered from where she was studying topographic maps tacked on the wall. "MEDEA's been active in rain forest conservation since its inception back in 1992."

  "What is MEDEA?" Nathan asked, placing the photos on the desk.

  "Back in 1989, there were congressional hearings on whether or not the classified data gathered by the CIA through its satellite surveillance systems might be useful in studying and monitoring global environmental changes. As a result, MEDEA was formed in 1992. The CIA recruited more than sixty researchers in various environmental-related fields into a single organization to analyze classified data in regard to environmental concerns."

  "I see," Nathan said.

  Frank spoke up, "Our mother was one of the original MEDEA founders, with a background in medicine and hazardous-waste risks. She was hired by my father when he was deputy director of the CIA. She'll be overseeing the autopsy of Agent Clark."

  Manny frowned. "Your father is the deputy director of the CIA?"

  "Was," Frank said bitterly.

  Kelly turned from the maps. "He's now director of the CIA's Environmental Center. A division that was founded by Al Gore in 1997 at the behest of MEDEA. Frank works in this division, as well."

  "And you?" Nathan asked. "Are you CIA, too?"

  Kelly waved away his question.

  "She's the youngest member of MEDEA," Frank said with a bit of pride in his voice. "Quite the distinguished honor. It was why we were chosen to head this operation. I represent the CIA. She represents MEDEA."

  "Nothing like keeping it all in the family," Kouwe said with a snort.

  "The fewer who know about the mission the better," Frank added.

  "Then how does Tellux Pharmaceuticals play a role in all this?" Nathan asked.

  Kouwe answered before either of the O'Brien siblings. "Isn't it obvious? Your father's expedition was financed by Eco-tek and Tellux, which are now one and the same. They own any proprietary intelligence gained from the expedition. If the team discovered some compound out there with regenerative properties, Tellux owns the majority rights to it."

  Nathan glanced to Kelly, who stared at her toes.

  Frank simply nodded. "He's right. But even at Tellux, only a handful of people know the true purpose of our mission here."

  Nate shook his head. "Great, just great." Kouwe placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

  "All that aside," Manny said, "what's our first step?"

  "Let me show you." Kelly turned once again to the maps on the back wall. She pointed to the centermost one. "I'm sure Dr. Rand is familiar with this map."

  He stared at it and did indeed recognize it like the lines on his own palm. "It's the recorded route my father's team took four years ago."

  "Exactly," Kelly said, tracing her finger along the dotted course that led in haphazard fashion from Manaus south along the Madeira River until it reached the town of Porto Velho, where it angled north into the heart of the Amazon basin. From there, the team crisscrossed the area until they bridged into the little-explored region between the southern and northern tributaries of the Amazon. Her finger stopped at the small cros
s at the end of the line. "Here is where all radio contact with the team ceased. And where all searches originated--both those sponsored by the Brazilian government and those financed privately." She glanced significantly at Nathan. "What can you tell us about the searches?"

  Nate circled around the desk to stare at the map. A familiar creeping despair edged through the core of his being. "It was December, the height of the rainy season," he whispered dully. "Two major storm systems had moved through the region. It was one of the reasons no one was initially concerned. But when an update from the team grew to be almost a week late and the storms had abated, an alarm went up. At first, no one was really that worried. These were people who had lived their lives in the jungle. What could go wrong? But as search teams began tentatively looking, it was realized that all trace of the expedition was gone, erased by the rains and the flooded forests. This spot"--Nathan placed a finger on the black X--"was found to be underwater when the first team arrived."

  He turned to the others. "Another week went by, then another. Nothing. No clues, no further word...until one last frantic signal. 'Send help...can't last much longer. Oh, God, they're all around us.'" Nate took a deep breath. The memory of those words still haunted him deeply. "The signal was so full of static that it was impossible to discern who even spoke. Maybe it was this Agent Clark." But in his heart, Nathan knew it had been his father. He had listened over and over to that last message. The last words of his father.

  Nathan stared at the photos and documents strewn across the desktop. "For the next three months, the searchers swept throughout the region, but storms and floods made any progress difficult. There was no telling in which direction my father's team had headed: east, west, north, south." He shrugged. "It was impossible. We were searching a region larger than the state of Texas. Eventually everyone gave up."

  "Except you," Kelly said softly.

  Nathan clenched a fist. "And a lot of good that did. No further contact was ever heard."

  "Until now," Kelly said. She gently drew him around and pointed to a small red circle he had not noticed before. She pointed to it. It lay about two hundred miles due south of Sao Gabriel, near the river of Jarura, a branch of the Solimoes, the mighty southern tributary of the Amazon. "This is the mission of Wauwai, where Agent Clark died. This is where we're heading tomorrow."

  "And what then?" Manny asked.

  "We follow Gerald Clark's trail. Unlike the earlier searches, we have an advantage."

  "What is that?" Manny asked.

  Nathan spoke up, leaning close to the wall map. "We're at the end of the dry season. There hasn't been a major storm through here in a month." He glanced over his shoulder. "We should be able to track his movements."

  "Hence, the urgency and speed of organizing this mission." Frank stood. He leaned one hand on the wall and nodded to the map. "We hope to follow any clues before the wet season begins and the trail is washed away. We're also hoping Agent Clark was sound enough in mind to leave some evidence of his route--marks on a tree, piles of rock--some way to lead us back to where he had been held these past four years."

  Frank turned back to the desk and slid out a large folded sheet of sketch paper. "In addition, we've employed Anna Fong so we can communicate with any natives of the region: peasants, Indians, trappers, whoever. To see if anyone has seen a man with these markings pass by." Frank unfolded and smoothed the paper. A hand-sketched drawing was revealed. "This was tattooed across Agent Clark's chest and abdomen. We hope that we'll find isolated folk who might have seen a man with this marking."

  Professor Kouwe flinched.

  His reaction did not go unnoticed by those in the room.

  "What is it?" Nathan asked.

  Kouwe pointed to the sketch paper. It delineated a complex serpentine pattern that spiraled out from a single stylized hand-print.

  "This is bad. Very bad." Kouwe fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his pipe. He lifted a questioning eye at Frank.

  The redheaded man nodded.

  Kouwe slipped out a pouch and tamped some locally grown tobacco into the pipe, then lit it with a single match. Nathan noted his uncharacteristically trembling fingers.

  "What is it?"

  Kouwe puffed on his pipe and spoke slowly. "It's the symbol for the Ban-ali. The Blood Jaguars."

  "You know this tribe?" Kelly asked.

  The shaman blew out a long stream of smoke and sighed, then shook his head. "No one knows this tribe. It is what's whispered among village elders, stories passed from one generation to another. Myths of a tribe that mates with jaguars and whose members can vanish into thin air. They bring death to all who encounter them. It is said they are as old as the forest and that the very jungle bends to their will."

  "But I've never heard of them," Nathan said, "and I've worked with tribes throughout the Amazon."

  "And Dr. Fong, the Tellux anthropologist," Frank said. "She didn't recognize it either."

  "I'm not surprised. No matter how well you're accepted, a nontribesman will always be considered pananakiri, an alien to the Indians of the region. They would never speak of the Ban-ali to you."

  Nate couldn't help but feel a bit insulted. "But I--"

  "No, Nathan. I don't mean to slight your own work or abilities. But for many tribes, names have power. Few will speak the name Ban-ali. They fear to draw the attention of the Blood Jaguars." Kouwe pointed to the drawing. "If you take this symbol with you, it must be shown with care. Many Indians would slay you for possessing such a paper. There is no greater taboo than allowing that symbol into a village."

  Kelly frowned. "Then it's doubtful Agent Clark passed through any villages."

  "If he did, he wouldn't have walked out alive."

  Kelly and Frank shared a concerned look, then the doctor turned to Nathan. "Your father's expedition was cataloging Amazonian tribes. If he had heard of these mysterious Ban-ali or had found some clue of their existence, perhaps he sought them out."

  Manny folded the sketched drawing. "And perhaps he found them."

  Kouwe studied the glowing tip of his pipe. "Pray to God he did not."

  * * *

  A little later, with most of the details settled, Kelly watched the trio, escorted by a Ranger, cross the room and exit the warehouse. Her brother Frank was already at the portable satellite uplink to report the day's progress to his superiors, including their father.

  But Kelly found her gaze following Nathan Rand. After their antagonistic exchange in the hospital, she was still slightly put off by his demeanor. But he was hardly the same oily-haired, foul-smelling wretch she had seen hauling the girl on a stretcher. Shaved and in clean clothes, he was certainly handsome: sandy-blond hair, dark complexion, steel-blue eyes. Even the way one eyebrow would rise when he was intrigued was oddly charming.

  "Kelly!" her brother called. "There's someone who'd like to say hi."

  With a tired sigh, Kelly joined her brother at the table. All around the room, final preparations and equipment checks were being finished. She leaned both palms on the table and stared into the laptop's screen. She saw two familiar faces, and a warm smile crossed her face.

  "Mother, Jessie's not supposed to be up this late." She glanced to her own wristwatch and did a quick calculation. "It must be close to midnight."

  "Actually after midnight, hon."

  Kelly's mother could have been her sister. Her hair was as deep an auburn as her own. The only sign of her age was the slightly deeper crinkles at the corners of her eyes and the small pair of glasses perched on her nose. She had been pregnant with Kelly and Frank when she was only twenty-two, still in med school herself. Giving birth to fraternal twins was enough of a family for the med student and the young navy surveillance engineer. Kelly's mother and father never had any more children.

  But that didn't stop Kelly from following in her mother's footsteps, getting pregnant in her fourth year of medical school at Georgetown. Yet unlike her mother, who remained married to the father of her children, Kelly divorced D
aniel Nickerson when she found him in bed with a fellow residency student. He at least had enough decency not to contest Kelly's demand for custody of their one-year-old daughter, Jessica.

  Jessie, now six years old, stood at her grandmother's shoulder, dressed in a yellow flannel nightgown with Disney's Pocahontas on the front. Her tousled red hair looked as if she had just climbed out of bed. She waved at the screen. "Hi, Mommy!"

  "Hi, sweetheart. Are you having a good time with Grandma and Grandpa?"

  She nodded vigorously. "We went to Chuck E. Cheese's today!"

  Kelly's smile broadened. "That sounds like fun. I wish I could've been there."