obtain some regenerative compound believed to have been discovered by Rand's group.
Such a request was not unusual. In the past few years, the race for new rain forest drugs had become more and more frantic, a multibillion-dollar industry. The search for "green gold," the next new wonder drug, had spurred a new "gold rush" here in the Amazon. And in the trackless depths of the forest, where millions of dollars were cast into an economy of dirt-poor farmers and un-schooled Indians, betrayals and atrocities were committed daily. There were no spying eyes and no one to tell tales. Each year, the jungle alone consumed thousands from disease, from attack, from injuries. What were a few more--a biologist, an ethnobotanist, a drug researcher?
It was a financial free-for-all.
And Louis Favre was about to join the game, championed by a French pharmaceutical company. Smiling, he stood up. He had been delighted when he heard about Carl Rand's disappearance four years ago. He had gotten drunk that night, toasting the man's misfortune. Now he would pound the final nail in the bastard's coffin by stealing whatever the man had discovered and laying more lives upon his grave.
Unlocking the salon's door, Louis stepped out.
"I hope everything was satisfactory, Dr. Favre," the concierge called politely from his desk.
"Most satisfactory, Claude," he said with a nod. "Most satisfactory indeed." Louis crossed to the hotel's small elevator, an antique cell of wrought iron and wood. It hardly fit two people. He pressed the button for the sixth floor, where his apartment suite lay. He was anxious to share the news.
The elevator clanked, groaned, and sighed its way up to his floor. Once the door was open, Louis hurried down the narrow hall to the farthest room. Like a handful of other guests who had taken up permanent residence in the Hotel Seine, Louis had a suite of rooms: two bedrooms, a cramped kitchen, a broad sitting room with doors that opened upon a wrought-iron balcony, and even a small study lined with bookshelves. The suite was not elaborate, but it suited his needs. The staff was discreet and well accustomed to the eccentricities of the guests.
Louis keyed open his door and pushed inside. Two things struck him immediately. First, a familiar and arousing scent filled the room. It came from a pot on the small gas stovetop, boiling ayahuasca leaves that produced the powerful hallucinogenic tea, natem .
Second, he heard the whine of the fax machine coming from the study. His new employers were certainly efficient.
"Tshui!" he called out.
He expected no answer, but as was customary among the Shuar tribespeople, one always announced one's presence when entering a dwelling. He noticed the door to the bedroom slightly ajar.
With a smile, he crossed to the study and watched another sheet of paper roll from the machine and fall to the growing stack. The details of the upcoming mission. "Tshui, I have marvelous news."
Louis retrieved the topmost printout from the faxed pile and glanced at it. It was a list of those who would comprise the U.S. search team.
10:45 P.M. UPDATE from Base Station
Alpha
I. Op. AMAZONIA: Civilian Unit
Members
(1) Kelly
O'Brien, M.D.- MEDEA
(2) Francis
J. O'Brien- Environmental Center,
CIA
(3) Olin
Pasternak- Science and Technology Directorate,
CIA
(4) Richard
Zane, Ph.D.- Tellux Pharmaceutical research
head
(5) Anna
Fong, Ph.D.- Tellux Pharmaceutical
employee
II. Op. AMAZONIA: Mil. Support: 75th Army
Ranger Unit
CAPTAIN: Craig Waxman
STAFF SERGEANT: Alberto Kostos
CORPORALS: Brian Conger, James DeMartini, Rodney Graves,
Thomas Graves, Dennis Jorgensen, Kenneth Okamoto, Nolan Warczak, Samad
Yamir
III. Op. AMAZONIA: Locally
Recruited
(1) Manuel
Azevedo- FUNAI, Brazilian national
(2) Resh
Kouwe, Ph.D.- FUNAI, Indigenous Peoples
Representative
(3) Nathan
Rand, Ph.D.- Ethnobotanist, U.S.
citizen
Louis almost missed the last name on the list. He gripped the faxed
Such a request was not unusual. In the past few years, the race for new rain forest drugs had become more and more frantic, a multibillion-dollar industry. The search for "green gold," the next new wonder drug, had spurred a new "gold rush" here in the Amazon. And in the trackless depths of the forest, where millions of dollars were cast into an economy of dirt-poor farmers and un-schooled Indians, betrayals and atrocities were committed daily. There were no spying eyes and no one to tell tales. Each year, the jungle alone consumed thousands from disease, from attack, from injuries. What were a few more--a biologist, an ethnobotanist, a drug researcher?
It was a financial free-for-all.
And Louis Favre was about to join the game, championed by a French pharmaceutical company. Smiling, he stood up. He had been delighted when he heard about Carl Rand's disappearance four years ago. He had gotten drunk that night, toasting the man's misfortune. Now he would pound the final nail in the bastard's coffin by stealing whatever the man had discovered and laying more lives upon his grave.
Unlocking the salon's door, Louis stepped out.
"I hope everything was satisfactory, Dr. Favre," the concierge called politely from his desk.
"Most satisfactory, Claude," he said with a nod. "Most satisfactory indeed." Louis crossed to the hotel's small elevator, an antique cell of wrought iron and wood. It hardly fit two people. He pressed the button for the sixth floor, where his apartment suite lay. He was anxious to share the news.
The elevator clanked, groaned, and sighed its way up to his floor. Once the door was open, Louis hurried down the narrow hall to the farthest room. Like a handful of other guests who had taken up permanent residence in the Hotel Seine, Louis had a suite of rooms: two bedrooms, a cramped kitchen, a broad sitting room with doors that opened upon a wrought-iron balcony, and even a small study lined with bookshelves. The suite was not elaborate, but it suited his needs. The staff was discreet and well accustomed to the eccentricities of the guests.
Louis keyed open his door and pushed inside. Two things struck him immediately. First, a familiar and arousing scent filled the room. It came from a pot on the small gas stovetop, boiling ayahuasca leaves that produced the powerful hallucinogenic tea, natem .
Second, he heard the whine of the fax machine coming from the study. His new employers were certainly efficient.
"Tshui!" he called out.
He expected no answer, but as was customary among the Shuar tribespeople, one always announced one's presence when entering a dwelling. He noticed the door to the bedroom slightly ajar.
With a smile, he crossed to the study and watched another sheet of paper roll from the machine and fall to the growing stack. The details of the upcoming mission. "Tshui, I have marvelous news."
Louis retrieved the topmost printout from the faxed pile and glanced at it. It was a list of those who would comprise the U.S. search team.
10:45 P.M. UPDATE from Base Station
Alpha
I. Op. AMAZONIA: Civilian Unit
Members
(1) Kelly
O'Brien, M.D.- MEDEA
(2) Francis
J. O'Brien- Environmental Center,
CIA
(3) Olin
Pasternak- Science and Technology Directorate,
CIA
(4) Richard
Zane, Ph.D.- Tellux Pharmaceutical research
head
(5) Anna
Fong, Ph.D.- Tellux Pharmaceutical
employee
II. Op. AMAZONIA: Mil. Support: 75th Army
Ranger Unit
CAPTAIN: Craig Waxman
STAFF SERGEANT: Alberto Kostos
CORPORALS: Brian Conger, James DeMartini, Rodney Graves,
Thomas Graves, Dennis Jorgensen, Kenneth Okamoto, Nolan Warczak, Samad
Yamir
III. Op. AMAZONIA: Locally
Recruited
(1) Manuel
Azevedo- FUNAI, Brazilian national
(2) Resh
Kouwe, Ph.D.- FUNAI, Indigenous Peoples
Representative
(3) Nathan
Rand, Ph.D.- Ethnobotanist, U.S.
citizen
Louis almost missed the last name on the list. He gripped the faxed
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