Barlow smiled. Nature hid her secrets well. But he was determined, and unfortunately for nature, now he was here.
Bellakov and his two men hefted the packs onto the shoulders. Barlow just hefted his own considerable bulk. He guessed by now Cartwright would be on the ground.
Barlow knew his job was simple: get there first and claim whatever discovery as his own. His guns for hire would ensure there was no protracted negotiations or disagreements. Of that he was sure. The boys weren’t afraid to dish out a bit of violence when it was necessary. He turned to them.
“Mr. Bellakov, please lead us out.”
“You got it, boss.” Bellakov drew a long machete and headed in.
CHAPTER 18
The boat was about fifty feet long, belched diesel, and probably hadn’t had a coat of paint in too many years to think about. The captain was a round-faced man who smoked like a chimney, causing the teeth on one side of his mouth to be an interesting shade of chocolate brown. He also had a squint that’d make Popeye envious from holding his unrecognizable brand of cigarette clamped between pressed lips.
Also onboard was their Venezuelan guide, Nino Santiago. The wiry young man was someone recommended to Jenny by the local zoo, and who was reputed to know most parts of the jungle on or off the map. He’d been responsible for assisting the zoo in locating many of the harder to find species they needed to stock exhibits, and the expectation was that he could find what others couldn’t.
The boat ride down the Rio Caroni was faster than Ben expected as they moved with the flow. Still, the antique engine chugged hard, and he, Emma, and Steve were up on the front deck, while Dan, Andrea, and Jenny were either below or out at the rear. Nino chatted with the captain.
Hours back, the last of the small fishing boats had vanished, and now only occasionally they saw a canoe or fishing platform, which was little more than a raft of lashed logs. One of the reasons for the growing isolation on the waterway was that as they entered more remote parts of the Amazon, the crocodiles got bigger and fishing became more a high-risk game.
They also noticed the water also got darker, to the color of coffee, and smelled of decomposition and earth, as it was stained by the tannins from all the rotting vegetation that fell into it.
In another hour, the boat slowed and turned towards the left bank. Ben marveled at the captain’s navigation skills as to him the river had been nothing but identical green walls for many miles, but sure enough, there was a side river with three long canoes already waiting and just tied off on the bank.
“Did you call an Amazonian taxi cab?” Emma grinned.
He chuckled. “Hats off to Jenny for her organizational skills — everything’s going to plan so far.”
The big boat turned off its engine and a deckhand scrambled up on deck, lifting a long, slim barge pole to slow them to a stop and then jamming it into the river bottom to anchor them close enough to the shore so they could all jump free.
Once again, Dan paid the man in dollars, and Jenny also handed him a few mini bottles of scotch she bought from the hotel.
“What’s with the firewater?” Steve asked.
Jenny shrugged. “Universal sign of gratitude down here.”
“Remember, señor, we wish the captain to be here when we come back.” Nino agreed. “Or it will be an extra five-day trek back to base.”
Ben leapt to the shore and turned to help Emma down, but she had already landed beside him.
She grinned. “I do this for a living, buster.”
He grinned back. “Then you should have helped me down.”
Dan jumped down and stumbled a little. He righted himself and brushed mud from one of his gaiters.
“Like armor plating.” He grimaced.
“Yep, exactly,” Ben responded.
The snake gaiters were a snake shield worn on the lower leg, from knee to foot, and the ones Ben had chosen for them were constructed from a weave of high-strength ballistic fibers and polyester. They even had a top-of-foot guard.
Dan grinned. “I’m getting used to them. Slowly.”
“You’ll be glad of ‘em when we push in.” Ben scanned the dense wall of jungle. “Down here, they’ve got more venomous pit vipers than anywhere else in the world. Plus a big mother called a Bushmaster — 10 feet, long-fanged, and venomous as all hell, and will actually chase you down to bite you.” He turned back to Dan. “Thank me for that armor plating if you ever walk into one of those.”
“Not complaining.” Dan grinned back.
Ben sighed. Really, they had no idea what they were in for, he thought. As well as the gaiters, he’d also had Dan order them bush knives, rain ponchos, head nets that fit over their hats and hung down to their necks, plus full nets for sleeping, as well as hammocks so if they needed to stay up off damp or insect-infested ground, they could.
Last and most importantly they all got Coyote Tactical Gloves. In a jungle, hands were something you used a lot but were extremely vulnerable. The gloves he ordered were rubber backed, canvas front with leather patches over the meaty areas of the palm. They were tough, durable, and light; you could climb, shoot, scale a fish, and then rinse ‘em out afterwards to be good as new.
Everything they had was impregnated with Permethrin to keep creepy crawlies from sneaking into their packs, or just plain eating them down to nothing.
He saw Andrea wave at an insect that refused to leave her alone. He sighed. “Andrea, have you put on your repellent?”
“Um, just on my shirt.” She walked stiff-legged up the bank in her snake gaiters.
“Put it on, all over you, please, or at least put the netting over your head.” Ben’s mouth set in a line.
“But I read it’s got DEET in it.” She sniffed. “And that’s poison.”
“Sure, but more poisonous to the bugs. It’s military-grade insect repellent, and yeah, it’s loaded with DEET. It’s not something you’d want to wear all the time, but even the CDC uses it.” Ben placed his hands on his hips. “Just don’t spray it in your eyes or get it in your mouth, and you’ll be fine.”
He saw she didn’t look convinced.
“C’mon, Andy, this isn’t Florida in June, this is the jungle,” Steve implored. “If you get bitten down here, you won’t end up with just a tiny red spot; you’re liable to end up pretty damn sick.”
“How about Leishmania parasite?” Ben said evenly. “Spread by sandfly bites. Causes large rotting ulcers on the flesh, and especially likes the nose and mouth.”
Andrea stopped and turned to stare for a moment. “Okay, okay.” Her eyes rolled and she exhaled in a big sigh. “Steve, can you please help me put some on then?”
“Sure.” He trotted over to her.
Ben smiled, watching her work her charm on him. For now, he’d hold back on telling them about everything that could bite, sting, or infest them. But he’d be providing some rapid education as they went.
The packs were still being unloaded and Ben walked a few hundred feet further along the bank. Both the jungle and the water became darker the further in he went. The smell of the water was like a warm heady brew of compositing, loamy earth, bracken, mosses, and then as a scent layer above it there was the ever-present sweet nectar from exotic-looking flowers, with the chemical tang of plant sap.
Clouds of insects swarmed around him but kept their distance thanks to a lathering of repellent he wore. Dan appeared beside him.
“So we turn off the main highway, and head down this side-road, huh?”
Ben nodded. “In Benjamin’s notebook, he mentioned finding a concealed river; I’m not sure this is it, but it gives us a good idea of what we’re looking for.” He pointed overhead. The branches were interlocking, and only filtered light streamed through from above. It actually looked like a green tunnel with water at the bottom and even close by the smaller river would have been near invisible. But then again, most of them were.