Lauren nodded. “On the way here, I told him that many, many people were getting sick like the Americans he saw die at the dig site, and he said that his grandfather knows a curandera who lives near their village who uses certain plants and herbs to cure the illness in those who aren’t immune and catch the ‘bleeding’ sickness as he calls it.”
“What the hell is a curandera?” Jakes spit irritably.
“A Mexican herbal healer,” Lauren answered.
“You mean she can cure the illness after the symptoms have already begun by using plants and herbs grown locally?” Shirley Cole asked.
Lauren shrugged. “That’s what he says.”
“He may just be right,” Mason interjected. “Fully a fourth of all modern medicinal compounds have their origins in alkaloids derived from plants.”
“Then we have no choice,” Shirley said. “We must travel to this village and start taking blood samples and see what this herbal healer can teach us.”
Mason glanced at Guatemotzi and shook his head. “I don’t think the best idea is for a herd of strangers to descend on this village and try to get them to cooperate in a scientific exercise.”
He stood up and poured himself another cup of coffee. “No, I think it best if just a couple of us go down there to see what we can find out. They’ll be much less apprehensive with two of us instead of six, especially if we can convince Guatemotzi to lead us there.”
“But there is so much to do,” Suzanne said. “I think I should be the one to accompany you.”
Again Mason shook his head. “No, I need someone who speaks the language. What I need from each of you is a list of what samples I need to obtain… what kind of tubes of blood, what tissue samples, and anything else you need me to get from the villagers. Meanwhile Lauren and I will talk to Guatemotzi and find out if the village is in walking distance or if we need to requisition a chopper from CDC.”
While the others were making their lists and gathering their tubes and equipment and while Mason and Lauren were questioning Guatemotzi about the distance and direction to his village, Janus snuck away from the group and keyed in the sat-phone to Colonel Blackman’s number.
He answered in a gruff whisper, “What part of I’m busy dealing with an emergency here don’t you understand? I told you I’d call you when I had a schedule for the kill team nailed down.”
“Listen up, asshole,” Janus replied, also whispering so the other team members would not hear. “I’m trying to save your ass here, so don’t give me any shit, okay?”
“I’ve got a bunch of soldiers sick and dying, my main lab is off-limits due to contagion with a deadly pathogen, and my superiors are crawling up my butt asking why a civilian was allowed in the lab in the first place, so please, be my guest and save my ass.”
“Okay, you can thank me later. The Indio boy now says there is a medicine woman in his village who has a mixture of herbs and shit that can cure the ‘bleeding sickness’ in those who are not naturally immune. Blackie, this is even better than the chance to make a vaccine, but we’ve got to act immediately or we’re gonna lose the cure to the CDC, who will naturally give it to the entire world free of charge and without any political leverage.”
“Damn, that’s great news, Janus. With a cure in hand we can blackmail the Saudis for cheap oil forever, not to mention what other countries will give us to keep all of their citizens from dying a horrible death. The United States will again be king of the world.”
“Yeah, well don’t count your chickens just yet, esteemed leader. Even as we speak, Mason Williams is on the phone with the CDC to see if he can get a helicopter from Mexico City to take him to the boy’s village to get the samples and the cure that will blow us outta the water.”
“Those helicopters from Mexico City are army choppers, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, so?”
Blackman chuckled again. “I happen to have a general in the Mexican Army who owes me big-time for pulling his ass out of a sling. I’ll drop a bug in his ear to make sure no choppers are flying to your neck of the woods for the foreseeable future.”
“Good, that’s a start. I’m thinking it’ll take Williams several days at least to hike through the jungle to the boy’s village. Now what about that team I need to take control of the samples? When can I expect them to arrive on the scene?”
“I’m fixin’ to interview the leader right now. They can be wheels up in a few hours and should arrive at your camp midday tomorrow.”
“That long?”
“Remember, Janus, there is a worldwide airport shutdown so these dudes are gonna have to fly a propeller aircraft to stay under radar, which means they fly low and slow.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best to stall Williams until your guys get here.”
“Good, and while you’re at it, see if you can get the precise location of the boy’s village from him so there won’t be any delay in our acquiring the cure.”
Janus laughed. Blackman was a complete idiot. “Sure, boss, I’ll just ask him the GPS coordinates and that should do it.”
“What?”
“He’s an uneducated Indian boy, Blackie. When we asked him where his village was he just shrugged and pointed south, which in case you’ve forgotten your geography, encompasses a hell of a lot of jungle. He did say it was somewhat near a city called Tuxtla, but I don’t know just what he considers ‘somewhat close,’ so the best bet is for your guys to follow them to the village.”
“And just how the hell are they going to trail them through the jungle without giving themselves away?” he asked gruffly.
“I’ll try to plant a GPS bug on one of them and I’ll let you know if I succeed.”
Pausing for a moment, Janus then added, “And Blackie, now that Williams and the American archaeologist are going to be off in the jungle by themselves, you won’t need to kill the CDC team, and I’ll be able to stay onboard with them to help you out in the future. No need for me to disappear now.”
Blackie considered his choices before he asked, “But, what about Williams and the archaeologist? They’ll still have to be… umm… eliminated.”
“I would rather you didn’t,” Janus said. “Williams is a good man doing good work, and since I have a good working relationship with him, I won’t have to try to get close to whomever the CDC would pick to take his place… so hands off. After all, their interception will take place in a remote jungle location many days’ journey from civilization, so they won’t be able to warn anyone until well after you have your samples.”
“That may not be enough time,” Blackie replied.
“Well then, take them prisoner and hold them until you’ve processed the samples, but I’m serious. I don’t want Williams harmed.”
“Okay, okay, stay calm. I’ll tell the team to treat them with kid gloves, all right?”
“You’d better, or I swear I’ll make you pay.”
Janus clicked the phone off, hearing him swear just before the call ended.
Oh, well, Janus thought. Some days you just can’t please anyone.
Chapter 23
Congressman Michael O’Donnell’s aide knocked on his door once and entered, carefully closing the door behind him.
O’Donnell looked up from the position paper he was reading and his heart beat a little faster. He knew something was up, for Jimmy Palmer never bothered to shut the door for routine matters.
He leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows. “What’s going on, Jimmy?”
Jimmy looked over his shoulder, a light gleam of sweat on his forehead. “You were right, boss,” he said in a low voice as if afraid he might be overheard. “Something really serious is going on over at USAMRIID.”