The local tribal people fished along the edge of the river. They glanced at the helicopter until its rotors finally stopped turning and went silent. After which, they returned to their fishing as though nothing in their environment had changed. The Pirahã tribe chose to remain out of the world of western civilization, but they were far less primitive than expected. They had seen planes and helicopters overhead. They simply had no desire to interact with the strange machines.
Tom looked at her. “Now that you’ve gotten us this far, any chance you might narrow the location of Billie in the jungle?”
“Afraid not,” Elise said. “If it makes you feel better, the Pirahã tribe number less than four hundred. So if she’s living with them when she’s not working on the new pyramid, she should be relatively easy to find.”
Tom’s eyes swept the thick Amazonian jungle. “It’s a big jungle. There’s a lot of area to cover. She could be anywhere.”
Billie stepped into the clearing. “Or she could be right here.”
Tom embraced her. It was an affectionate hug, more like that between brother and sister than ex-lovers. Elise glanced at Genevieve, who appeared to be taking it with a refined grain of ambivalence. The two had been secret lovers until recently, when both had forgotten to conceal their obvious affection for each other. Most people wondered what would happen to their relationship now that Billie was back. Elise wasn’t one of those. She knew that Tom and Billie broke up before she left on the pretense that she was more interested in finding the Master Builders than her relationship with him. The reality was, it was a bit of both — Billie couldn’t settle down with anyone.
“How did you know where to find us?” Sam asked.
Billie laughed. “It’s not like we get a lot of helicopters in the area.”
Tom said, “Let’s go before that thing comes back.”
“You mean the Black Smoke?” Billie asked.
“Yeah.”
“It shouldn’t return for a few more days.” Billie glanced toward a group of people in the distance. “You guys should stay and see this place. The people of the Pirahã tribe are amazing!”
Sam intervened. “Sounds like it, but all the same, we should leave.”
“Leave?” Billie repeated the word. “I’m not leaving.”
“What do you mean you’re not leaving?” Tom spat the words.
“I like it here.” Billie shook her head. “I can’t leave yet. I haven’t finished my work and the Black Smoke needs me.”
“Needs you!” Tom said. “That thing isn’t real. We had it chemically analyzed. It’s basically LSD on steroids. They’ve been using it to control you.”
“Yes.” Billie smiled, stupidly. “I know.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Tom asked.
“Yes. Of course I am. You guys don’t understand what it’s trying to achieve. What it does for you… I’ve never felt more alive in my life.”
“That’s great.” Sam gripped his Heckler and Koch MP5, scanning the rest of the jungle around them. Some of the Pirahã tribe, who’d taken little notice of them five minutes earlier, were now slowly making their way silently to greet them. “We’ve got to go.”
“Why?” Billie asked, holding on to Sam’s arm. “Please, I’d like you all to stay.”
Her hand gripped his arm so tight it hurt. Sam ripped his arm free. “What’s got into you? I said, we have to go.”
Billie’s eyes filled with confined rage. “Please, I just want you all to stay… just for a little while longer.”
Black smoke seeped out of the lower ground and surrounding valleys like a rising sea, that would soon swamp them all.
Genevieve interrupted. “Listen bitch! I don’t know what the drugs are telling you to do, but we’ve come a long way to get you out of here, and it’s time to go.”
Billie’s head snapped to face Genevieve. Her almond eyes were wide and her mouth opened — an instant later, her lips thinned and she started to form the lower notes of a high pitched whistle.
Chapter Sixty-One
The high pitched whistle was relayed across each member of the Pirahã tribe who were now encircling them. Elise gripped her Uzi, and fired a couple short bursts into the air above the men and women who were slowly encroaching on them at a pace no faster than a slow walk. To her they appeared more like an animal patiently stalking its prey, than human’s surrounding their enemy.
She shouted, “Back in the helicopter!”
Tom grabbed Billie against her will and dragged her into the helicopter. Genevieve climbed into the pilot seat and flicked on the engine, while Tom tried to stop Billie from clawing her way out.
Sam yelled, “Get us out of here, Genevieve!”
The massive rotor blades above started to turn at a painfully slow pace. It takes time to start a helicopter, and no amount of coaxing can reduce it. Genevieve checked a number of controls, waiting for the main rotor to reach its minimum take-off RPM.
Elise stared out the helicopter’s windows. The thick smoke now filled the outside. It surrounded them like a sinister weapon trying to smother the life out of them. The Pirahã tribe now formed a circle around the helicopter, so close they were touching one another. Each person looked straight upon the helicopter — mesmerized by the sight but unable to advance any further.
She could make out every intricate detail of the faces. They were set hard with determination as they stared into the helicopter. Their eyes were open, but pupils were rolled back — as though they were having a seizure.
What the hell?
“Get us out of here, Genevieve!” she yelled.
But already the thick smoke was starting to seep through the small opening in the Sea King’s aluminum airframe.
“Close the vents!” Sam said, shutting the cockpit air vents.
In the rear cabin, Elise and Veyron frantically shoved blankets over the vents, where the Black Smoke still entered. Her eyes darted toward Billie, who was grinning sardonically and, like the others, her eyes were rolled back inside her head. Although she looked awake, she had no more control over her cognitive response than an epileptic having a seizure.
Elise tried to hold her breath. “We’re going to be trapped here, Genevieve — if you don’t get us out of here now!”
Genevieve turned around. “We’re okay, now.”
Every muscle in Elise’s body went taut as she involuntarily recoiled — because beneath the waxy replica of Genevieve’s fortitude, her eyes were fixed upward, staring at the back of her skull.
A moment later, Genevieve switched off the Sea King’s engines and the rotor blades whirred into a silent idle.
“Wait!” Elise screamed, but her words went unheard, as Sam, Tom, Veyron, Genevieve and Billie all opened the doors and stepped outside to join the Black Smoke.
She followed them outside. Now all the entire Pirahã tribe was starting to enter the jungle, and her team among them. No one spoke. They simply followed, as though driven by some sort of higher power, a chemical intervention that she still didn’t quite understand.
Elise fired another burst of rounds from her Uzi just above her friend’s heads. It made no difference. She doubted if shooting them would have stopped their inhumane need to follow the others into the jungle.
In the back of her mind, Elise felt a strange yearning to follow them. There was no voice in her head that told her what should be done, simply that it would feel right to join the others. She watched as her friends disappeared into the jungle.
No. This isn’t what I want.
She thought about it for a moment, trying to steady herself from joining the others. It was like a patient trying to stay awake after being given the anesthetic for surgery, convinced they would actually get to count back from a hundred.