For those parts of the river the Nereid couldn’t negotiate… that was where the second boat came in. The Nereid’s tender, hanging from a crane at the stern, was a fifteen-foot inflatable Zodiac dinghy. It was the antithesis of its luxurious mother craft, but if everything went to plan it would only be needed for the very last leg of the trip.
The need for a boat the size of the Nereid had come about because the expedition had grown. In addition to Philby, the original team of Nina, Kari, Chase and Castille had been joined by four other people. Two of them comprised the Nereid’s crew: the bearded, rotund Captain Augustine Perez and his “first mate”-the title was used jokingly-Julio Tanega, who smiled frequently and broadly to reveal not one, but two gold teeth.
The third new member was Agnaldo di Salvo, a broad, powerfully built Brazilian in his fifties with the air of a man who was surprised by little and frightened by nothing. Kari had introduced him as their guide to the area, but di Salvo, when Nina asked, called himself an “Indian tracker.” She felt a little too intimidated to ask further about the exact difference between the two. To her surprise, Chase and Castille seemed to know him quite well.
Accompanying di Salvo, and not with his total approval, was another American, a tall, reed-thin graduate student from San Francisco called Hamilton Pendry. He was an environmentalist studying the effects of commercial exploitation of the rain forests on their indigenous population-and was also the nephew of a Democratic congressman, who had persuaded the Brazilian government to let him accompany one of their experts into the jungle. Di Salvo, it seemed, had drawn the short straw. Since the Frosts had specifically requested that di Salvo accompany the expedition, they were now saddled with Hamilton as well, though the exact nature of the mission had been kept from him. Just as well, Nina thought; the long-haired young man seemed genuine in his enthusiasm for the cause of the native Indians and preserving their environment, but God! Shut up about it for five minutes!
Chase had hoped there would be another person joining them, but the reason for her being unable to do so became clear the moment Nina saw her. His friend Maria Chascarillo, when she met them at the dock, turned out to be every bit as beautiful as Shala… and also every bit as pregnant.
“I swear this is just a coincidence!” Chase told the amused Nina and Castille over Maria’s shoulder as they hugged.
“Sure, we believe you,” said Nina. “Don’t we, Hugo?”
“Oh, of course,” Castille replied, munching on a banana.
While Chase was disappointed that Maria wouldn’t be joining the expedition, he was anything but when he opened one of the crates she’d delivered to the dock. Nina couldn’t see the contents, but could guess easily enough. “Guns?” she asked, once Maria had left.
“And some other toys,” he replied cheerfully. “We got caught short in Iran -I’m not going to let that happen again. Besides, from what Agnaldo said about the locals, we might need something to warn them off.”
“What did he say about them?”
“Well, he’s never met them personally-he’s only heard stories. Because people who do meet them… they tend not to come back home to tell anybody about it.”
“What?” Nina shook her head. “No, that sounds like total Indiana Jones stuff. The whole ‘lost tribes of the jungle’ thing doesn’t work anymore. We’re in the twenty-first century.”
“You may be,” said di Salvo from where he had seemingly materialized right behind her. For such a big man he had an uncanny ability to move without being noticed. “But they are not. You think it sounds like a story, but every year dozens of people-loggers, prospectors, even tourists-are murdered by Indian tribes deep in the jungle. It makes my job harder.” He narrowed his eyes and surveyed the dockside, where various people were watching with suspicion. Hardly surprising, Nina realized; compared to the rundown little boats that called the docks home, the gleaming, futuristic form of the Nereid was like a visiting UFO. “These people hate the native Indians, because tribal lands are protected by law-so their livelihoods can be destroyed overnight if a new tribe is found. And it doesn’t help if the Indians are believed to be killing intruders with impunity. So they hate me as well, because it’s my job to find the Indians.”
“It’s an outrage!” squawked Hamilton. Unlike di Salvo, Nina heard him coming, his sandals slapping along the deck. “There shouldn’t even be any need to confirm the existence of a tribe before an area becomes protected. This entire region should be protected! Logging, mining, ranching, it’s all destroying the rain forest! They’re just burning down thousands of acres every single day to make room for cattle ranches! It’s like cutting out your own lungs to sell them for a few dollars so you can buy a burger!”
Chase shot a quick sidelong grin at Nina before adopting a completely straight face. “Yeah, that burning thing’s terrible, isn’t it? A total waste.”
“I know!” Hamilton waved his arms, friendship bracelets flapping. “It’s just… unbelievable!”
“I mean,” Chase went on, “just one mahogany tree could make dozens of toilet seats. I’ve got one in my place at home. You ever sat on a mahogany bog seat? It’s the most comfortable place to plonk your arse while you read the paper. Lovely and warm.”
Hamilton stared at him open-mouthed. “That’s… that’s outrageous!” he finally managed to stutter. “That’s the kind of uncaring dominator culture blindness that, that, that…” He trailed off and glared at Chase before turning and stalking away. Nina, who normally took a proenvironmental viewpoint, couldn’t help smiling, while di Salvo roared with laughter.
“Eddie,” he said, “you’ve done in five minutes what I couldn’t in five days-you got the boy to shut up! You are truly a man of many talents.”
“Well… yeah, I am.” Chase tugged the lapels of his jacket immodestly.
“That was mean,” said Nina, still smiling.
“Aw, come on! He might as well have a big target on his chest and a sign saying ‘please take the piss.’”
Kari emerged from the main cabin onto the aft deck. “Is everything ready?” she asked. “Captain Perez wants to know when we’ll be casting off.”
“All our gear’s aboard,” Chase said. “Just got to load Nina’s trunk full of new clothes from Paris.”
“It’s only a suitcase, and it’s already in my cabin,” Nina said, pouting playfully at him.
Kari glanced down at the dock, satisfying herself that everything had been brought aboard. “If we’re ready, then there’s no reason to wait. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be there. I’ll get Julio to untie us.” She headed back into the cabin.
“A trip up the Amazon,” said Chase, going to the other side of the boat and looking out across the wide river. “Haven’t done that for a while.”
“Well, up the Tefé, technically,” Nina corrected. The town of Tefé was built on the bank of the river from which it took its name just before it joined the Amazon proper, at the eastern end of a broad lake over thirty miles long.
“All right, Dr. Smart-Arse. Either way, so long as I don’t have to wrestle any bloody crocodiles this time, I’ll be happy.” He picked up one of the crates and followed Kari inside the boat.
Nina chuckled. “Yeah, right. Wrestling with crocodiles? As if!”
“You’re right,” said Castille as he picked up the second crate and started after Chase. “They were caimans.”