Twice a year he took some of his American students and other interested people down to Peru on a botanical field expedition. Until now, they had always been treks in the Huallaga Valley near Tingo
Maria, three hundred miles south of Iquitos and the Amazon, but this year he’d wanted to do something different: an Amazon River expedition. Hence, his hiring of the
“So what would this cost us?” John asked.
“Well, Phil says he can get there and back for a six-hundreddollar fare: Seattle to Iquitos, and then Leticia back to Seattle.”
“That’s a terrific deal,” Marti said to John. “Harvey and Cece Sherman went to Peru in June and just their round trip to Lima was something like eleven hundred dollars.”
“And once we’re there,” Gideon said, “we’ll pay the same thing on the boat that Phil will—twenty dollars a day to cover food—a hundred and forty bucks for the week.”
“So ...seven hundred forty bucks for the whole deal?” John said.
“Right. The regular passengers are paying over thirteen hundred just for the cruise part.”
John set his cup on its saucer with a decisive clink. “What the hell, let’s do it. What’s the name of the town again? Iquistos?”
“Iquitos,” Gideon said, then added with a smile: “It rhymes with
THREE
CAPTAIN Alfredo Vargas, founder and president of Amazonia Cruise Lines, headquartered in Iquitos, Peru, conducted most of his business meetings with government officials, potential investors, and prospective clients in the bright, pleasant bar of the Hotel Dorado Plaza, self-described, with some justification, as “the only five-star hotel in the Peruvian Amazon.” While this practice might seem extravagant to some, it was in reality a measure of thrift on the captain’s part, being far more cost-effective than renting a bona fide office full-time, especially inasmuch as his business meetings were few and far between. Of course, once Amazonia was on its feet, once there was a steady stream of passengers for the
But for the time being, the elegant hotel bar served his purposes.
It was where he had first met with the famous professor, Scofield, to negotiate the terms for the
“I don’t know about that now, Captain,” he said pleasantly enough, digging at his cheek with the bit of his pipe. “That wasn’t the arrangement, as I recall. Didn’t we agree that my party would have the ship to themselves?”
“True, professor, very true, you’re right about that. But these men, you see, are not passengers at all, not in the usual sense of the word. They will be there only to look at life aboard the
They spoke Spanish. Although Vargas could converse quite well in English, he was more comfortable in his native language. Scofield was equally at ease in both.
“We can’t have them interfering with our activities, you know,” Scofield said. “That wouldn’t do at all.” He was a stocky, apple-cheeked man, handsomely boyish and twinkle-eyed, and he was speaking, as usual, with a playful, jokey air, but Vargas knew from their earlier meetings that he was not to be taken lightly. Underneath the pleasantries there was a man who was used to getting what he wanted.
“No, no, I can assure you that they won’t. They are observers only. You’ll hardly be aware they’re there.”
“All right, but I must require that the ship pursue
Your eventual aim may be tourism, but on this trip it’s strictly botany.
Is that understood?”
“Perfectly, perfectly, professor. On that you have my word.”
Despite the hotel’s air-conditioning, Vargas was sweating. Scofield was a difficult customer, had been from the start. But he was also Vargas’s only customer, with no others presently in sight. If he insisted that he didn’t want Phil Boyajian aboard, Vargas would have to accede. But it would be a blow to his hopes and plans. “Flowers and shamans, that’s what it will be about,” he said jovially. “Don’t give it another thought.”
Scofield pointed the pipe bit at him. “
“Yes, yes of course. Did I say flowers? Plants, I meant to say plants, nothing but plants and shamans.” He hesitated. “Well, that is...”
One of Scofield’s eyebrows lifted. “Yes?”
