“So ScanoGen hired you to bring them, what, seeds, fruit, leaves from this tree?” Dane asked.
Thomas nodded. “They want to develop this into a weapon. Modify people at the genetic level to make them perfect soldiers.”
“And turn enemies into pacifists,” Bones finished.
“So, what about those zombie guys?” Dane felt something was not adding up. “Did they get too much black tea or something?”
Thomas took a deep breath. “You aren’t supposed to eat the fruit, or at least that’s what legend said. But the people here didn’t heed that warning. There were natives living in the next valley, and once the five steps were in place, the Punics saw in them a potential extra line of defense. Problem was, the effects of the tea were only short-term, and the supply of leaves limited. They took a chance and used the fruit. At first it seemed like it had worked, but slowly, the people changed. They not only became killers, a threat to anyone who was different than them, but they lost the ability to feel altogether. They don’t feel physical pain, and they don’t seem to have any emotions, either. They live in caves, hunt, eat, reproduce, and try to kill anyone who enters their realm. It’s a miracle I made it through.”
“What does the white half of the fruit do?” Dane tried to imagine the polar opposite of the condition in which those natives now lived.
“It puts them in a state of utter contentment, to such an extreme that the person no longer feels the need to do anything. They forsake all human interaction, and just sit and smile. They don’t want anything. They stop eating and drinking, and eventually they stop breathing.”
“That’s even more horrible than the Mot’jabbur.” Bitterness singed Kaylin’s every word.
“I can see why the Dominion wants this.” Tam pursed her lips, deep in thought. “Shoot, I can see why anyone would want this. Governments, terrorist organizations, the potential is unthinkable.” Her eyes grew wide.
“Wait a minute! Project Pan. The Greek pottery…” She gasped. “It can’t be.”
“Pandora’s Box.” Thomas nodded. “The Greek urn in which the seeds of the tree were kept.”
“You’re telling us that the Pandora’s Box is here?” Why this was surprising to Dane, after everything else they’d seen, he could not say.
“It goes deeper than that.” A mysterious smile played across Thomas’s lips. “Think for a moment. Have you ever heard of a tree that bore forbidden fruit?” Dane’s mouth went dry as Thomas went on. “A fruit that, when eaten, could cause you to be cursed. Could give you the ability to know evil and do evil things.”
“No freakin’ way.” Bones was on his feet. “That is the tree from the Garden of Eden?”
“Hardly.” Thomas chuckled. “But I suspect it is a descendant of the tree or trees that inspired the Garden of Eden story.”
Dane stared down at the silver tree with its black-and-white fruit, and wondered if his life could get any stranger. How was it that these things kept happening to him? The others were equally silent, gazing at the wondrous sight in awed, reverent silence. As he looked at the tree, though, something else occurred to him.
“You know what that tree reminds me of? Look at the leaves and the fruit. A circle, half black, half white.”
“The Yin and the Yang,” Tam whispered. “Maybe it’s all tied together somewhere back in very ancient history.”
“All I know,” Dane stood and looked at Thomas, “is you’ve uncovered a deadly secret, and because of you, we just might have led men here who would like nothing more than to unleash this on the world.”
“Thomas, how could you do this?” Kaylin looked angrier than Dane had ever seen her. “You’re helping them do Lord knows what? I never dreamed you were this kind of person.”
“You don’t understand,” Thomas pleaded, dropping to his knees in front of her. He reached out to take her hand, but she slapped it away. “For me, it was always about Fawcett. ScanoGen funded my expeditions, and, yes, they paid me well. The money was going to be for us, for our future together. I swear. Once I solved the Fawcett mystery for myself, I was going to tell them I had failed. That I didn’t find anything.”
“And you thought they’d just let it go like that? I can’t believe you.” Kaylin buried her face in her hands.
“Kaylin, I…”
“Just forget it. We’ll talk about it later.” She waved him away. “Talk to them.”
Thomas stood, clearly exasperated. “You have to believe me. I didn’t intend to give the information over to ScanoGen. I was just using them to finance my work on Fawcett. I’ve been fascinated with his story all my life. The mystery grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. You,” he said to Dane, “of all people, understand that, don’t you?”
Dane rose to his feet and looked Thomas in the eye. “Do I know that feeling? Yes. Do I think that makes it okay to do something rash and reckless out of utter selfishness? No way.”
Thomas looked like he was about to argue, but words must have failed him. He lapsed into a sullen silence and turned away from Dane.
“What do we do now, Maddock?” Bones asked. “I could throw this dude down the pyramid if you like.”
Tam suppressed a chuckle as Thomas’s face reddened.
“It wouldn’t help us any. We need to get our weapons back and be ready in case ScanoGen shows up. I say we give them a couple of days, and if they don’t show, that means they’re either lost or the Mot’jabbur got them. If Willis is up to it by then, we’ll make our way back home.”
He turned to Tam. “Do you think there’s any chance of keeping this,” he pointed at the tree, “under wraps? You said only one person at ScanoGen knows about it.”
“As far as I know, he’s the only one. I suppose there’s a chance he shared the information, but I doubt it. Other than the Fawcett map, Salvatore Scano only knew in a very general way what it was Professor Thornton here thought he would find — an Amazon plant that would allow them to manipulate human aggression. No one dreamed of this.”
“If you’re really F.B.I., what do you plan on telling your superiors when you get back to the States?” He searched her big brown eyes, seeking whatever truth might wait there.
“I don’t know.” She didn’t look away as she answered him. “I have a duty to my country, and I take that to heart, but I’m almost as afraid of it falling into our government’s hands as I am of ScanoGen and the Dominion, whoever they are, getting hold of it.”
“I’d say we chop the thing down and get the hell out of Dodge.” Bones stood and stretched. “But I suppose they’d plant another one.’
“There’s only one seed left.” Thomas said in a soft, almost inaudible voice. “Fawcett told me. Some of what they brought with them from Carthage never took root, nor have many of the seeds the trees here have produced. The trees also don’t live as long in this place as they did in the old world. They don’t say so, but the people here are worried.”
“It would be a blessing for them if the tree had already died,” Dane said. Of course, it was too late now. “Let’s head back down before it gets dark. I have a bad feeling about tonight.”
Chapter 28
Brian Fawcett was waiting for them when they reached the bottom of the pyramid, a nervous look painting his face. Armed guards stood nearby, eyeing Dane and the others. He had the feeling they were not there by coincidence.
“Quarters have been prepared for you.” Brian cleared his throat. “I shall show you to them. We have food and drink waiting there for you as well. Also, your friends are already there.”