She was instantly on her feet. 'Marshall. . .'
He waved her down and crossed to the wall to snap in his oxygen line to one of the air bibs. Once done, he strode to the girl's bedside.
'Grandpa!' Jessie said, smiling faintly. The girl's love for her grandfather, the only father figure in her life, was special. It was heartening to see her respond to him.
'How's my little pumpkin?' he said, bending over to tousle her hair.
'I'm watching Bobo the Bear.'
'Are you? Is he funny?'
She nodded her head vigorously.
'I'll watch it with you. Scoot over.'
This delighted Jessie. She shifted, making room for him to sit on the edge of the bed. He put an arm around her. She snuggled up against him, content to watch the screen.
Lauren met her husband's gaze.
He gave his head a tiny shake.
Lauren frowned. What did that mean? Anxious to find out, she switched to the suit's radios so they could speak in whispers without Jessie hearing.
'How's Jessie doing?' Marshall asked.
Lauren sat straighter, leaning closer. 'Her temperature is down to ninety-nine, but her labs are continuing to slide. White blood cell levels have been dropping, while bilirubin levels are rising:'
Marshall's eyes closed with pain. 'Stage Two?'
Lauren found her voice cracking. With so many cases studied across the nation, the disease progression was becoming predictable. Stage II was classified when the disease progressed from its benign febrile state into an anemic stage with bleeding and nausea.
'By tomorrow;' Lauren said. 'Maybe the day after that at the latest:'
They both knew what would happen from there. With good support, Stage II could stretch for three to four days, followed by a single day of Stage III. Convulsions and brain hemorrhages. There was no Stage IV
Lauren stared at the little girl in the bed as she cuddled against her grandfather. Less than a week. That's all the time Jessie had left. 'What of Kelly? Has she been picked up? Is she on her way back?'
Her suit radio remained silent. Lauren glanced back to Marshall.
He stared at her a moment more, then spoke. 'There was no sign of them. The rescue helicopter searched the region where they were supposed to be according to their last GPS signal. But nothing was found:'
Lauren felt like a brick had been dropped in her gut. 'How could that be?'
'I don't know. We've been trying to raise them on the satellite link all day, but with no luck. Whatever problem they were having with their equipment yesterday must still be going on:'
'Are they continuing the air search?'
He shook his head. 'The helicopter had to turn back. Limited fuel.'
'Marshall. . :' Her voice cracked.
He reached out to her and took her hand. 'Once they've refueled, they're sending it back out for a night flight. To see if they can spot campfires from the air using infrared scopes. Then tomorrow, another three helicopters are joining the search, including our own Comanche.' He squeezed her hand, tight. 'We'll find them:'
Lauren felt numb all over. All her children . . . all of them . . .
Jessie spoke up from the bed, pointing an arm that trailed an IV line toward the video. 'Bobo's funny!'
1:05 1PM.
AMAZON JUNGLE
Nate climbed down the fifty-foot ladder from the treetop dwelling. The three-story structure rested in the branches of a nightcap oak, a species from the Cretaceous period. Earlier, just after Kelly and the professor had left with Frank, a pair of Ban-all women had appeared and led the party to the edge of the glade, gesturing and indicating that the dwelling above had been assigned to their group.
Sergeant Kostos had resisted at first, until Private Camera had made an astute observation. 'Up there, it'll be more defensible. We're sitting targets on the ground. If those giant cats should come up during the night-'
Kostos had cut her off, needing no more convincing. 'Right, right Let's move our supplies up there, then set up a defensive perimeter.'
Nate thought such caution was unnecessary. Since arriving, the Indians had remained curious about them but kept a wary distance, peering from the jungle edges and windows. No hostility was shown. Still, Nate had a hard time balancing these quiet people with the murderous savages who had wiped out half their team by unleashing all manner of beasts upon them. But then again, such duality was the way of many indigenous tribes: hostile and brutal by outside appearances, but once you were accepted, they were found to be a peaceful and open people.
Still, so many of their teammates had died horribly at the indirect hands of this tribe. A burning seed of anger smoldered in Nate's chest. And then there were Clark and maybe others of his father's group, held hostage for all these years. At the moment, Nate found it hard to achieve professional detachment. As an anthropologist, he could understand these strange people, but as a son, resentment and fury colored all he saw.
Still, they were helping Frank. Professor Kouwe had returned briefly from the white-barked tree to announce that the tribal shaman and Kelly were able to stabilize their teammate. It was a rare bit of good news. Kouwe had not stayed long, anxious to return to the giant tree. The professor's eyes had flicked toward Nate. Despite the tribe's cooperation at the moment, Kouwe was clearly worried. Nate had tried to inquire, but the professor had waved him off as he left. 'Later' was all he had said.
Reaching the last rung of the vine ladder, Nate jumped off. Clustered around the base of the tree were the two Rangers and Manny. Tor-tor stood at his master's side. The other members of their dwindling group Zane, Anna, and Olin-remained secure in their treetop loft, working on their communication equipment.
Manny nodded to Nate as he crossed toward them.
'I'll keep guard here;' Kostos instructed Camera. 'You and Manny do a sweep of the immediate area. See what you can discover about the lay of the land:'
The private nodded and turned away.
Manny followed at her side. 'C'mon, Tor-tor.'
Kostos noted Nate's arrival. 'What are you doing down here, Rand?'
'Trying to make myself useful:' He nodded to the cabin a hundred yards away. 'While the sun's still up and the solar cells are still juicing, I'm going to see if I can discover any information in my father's computer records:'
Kostos frowned at the cabin but nodded. Nate could read his eyes, weighing and calculating. Right now every bit of Intel could be vital. 'Be careful,' the sergeant said.
Nate hiked his shotgun higher on his shoulder. 'Always:' He began the walk across the open glade.
In the distance, near the clearing's edge, a handful of children had gathered. Several pointed at him, gesturing to one another. A small group trailed behind Manny and Camera, keeping a cautious distance from Tor- tor. The curiosity of youth. Among the trees, the timid tribe began to reawaken to their usual activities. Several women carried water from the stream that flowed through the glade and around the giant tree in the center. In the treetop abodes, people began to clamber. Small fires flared atop stone hearths on patios, readying for dinner. In one dwelling, an old woman sat cross-legged, playing a flute made out of a deer bone, a bright but haunting sound. Nearby, a pair of men, armed with hunting bows, wandered past, giving Nate the barest acknowledgment.
The casualness of their manner reminded Nate that, though these folks were isolated, they had lived with white men and women before. The survivors of his father's expedition.
He reached the cabin, seeing again his father's walking stick by the door. As he stared at it, the rest of the world and its mysteries dissolved away. For the moment, only one question remained in Nate's heart: What truly happened to my father?
With a final glance to his team's temporary treetop home, Nate ducked through the door flap of the cabin. The musty smell struck him again, like entering a lost tomb. Inside, he found the laptop still open on the workstation, just as he had left it. Its glow was a beacon in the dark.
As he neared the computer, Nate saw the screen saver playing across the monitor, a tiny set of pictures that slowly floated and bounced around the screen. Tears rose in his eyes. They were photos of his mother. Another
