"Goodbye." "Enjoy your stay." "The foundation for whom I work supports a botanist... named Robert Campbell, once of some note." "But on separating from his wife and long-time research partner... he'd withdrawn his station deeper into the bush." "And until last month's message, no one had heard from him in three years." "He asked for an assistant and a gas chromatograph... and pointedly refused to say why." "I'm surprised they sent a woman." "For Dr. Campbell." "Please don't lose it." "Wait a minute." "Aren't you coming with me?" "I'm afraid he was adamant about that." "Tanaki will guide you from here." "Come on, you, go." "Come on." "Careful." "Are we here?" "Okay, ready?" "Here you go." "Indian?" "Oh, boy." " Who are you?" " Who am I?" "Who are you?" "I asked you first." " You're Dr. Campbell, right?" " I know who the hell I am." " I'm asking who you are." " Crane." "No, toucan." " No, that's my name." " Toucan?" " How odd." " Crane." "Dr. Rae Crane." "I do wish you'd make up your mind." "Maybe it's best we talk in the morning, Doctor." "This is from Ornega." "How about a place to sleep?" "Ornega?" "Are you from Aston?" " He sent you?" " I tell you." "They sent a girl." " They sent a girl?" " Yes." " I'm not a girl." " The hell you're not." " I'm your research assistant." " The hell you are." " Where's your mask?" " I don't have one." "I just got here." "No one comes in here without a surgical mask." "God knows what bugs you're carrying." "Jahausa, get her a mask." " Relax." "This is as close as we get, Tonto!" " Not for me, you hussy!" " For the indians." " Hussy?" "One outsider with a common cold can decimate an entire tribe." " And what about your shots?" " What about a place to sleep, God damn it?" "To sleep?" "Sleep." "Yes, of course, please forgive me." "There's no need for you to leave till tomorrow." "I must tell you how grateful I am." "I've been waiting for these." "They get lost in the forest, you see?" "The forest is so vast and they're just so very small." "Dr. Campbell?" "No, Palala." "Back to the boat." "You had no right to unpack that equipment." "Where are you going?" " No." " That's all right." "He's loading the boat." " No boat." " Palala, only those boxes are staying." "Come on, up." "Luggage down." "Come on, put it down." "Would you do me a favor and ask him to put my luggage down?" "Sorry, I forget women like to carry their own now." "I think I should introduce myself." "You're the so-called research assistant from Aston." " You don't remember last night?" " Do I appear senile?" "Drunk." " Intoxicated, yes." " There's a difference?" "The Peach Palm Festival is a religious ceremony." "Are those bags too heavy?" "Shall I call Palala back?" "No." "I'm not getting on a boat." "No boat." "It's the only available transport, and you certainly can't remain here." " Why?" "Because I'm not a man?" " Because you're not one of three men." "I requested Dr. Alan Sealove." "If he was unavailable, Dr. Gregory Hoffman." "I'm published more extensively than Dr. Sealove." "I hold degrees from CCNY, Berkeley, and Cambridge." "I'm the recipient... of the Thurman Award in '82 and '86." "The first and only time it's ever been given to the same person twice." "Is there anything else you'd like to know about me?" " Do those boots come with a manual?" " No." "I thought of snakes." "When was the last time you did field research?" "Or when was the first time?" "I did a month in La Salva." "A whole month?" "You didn't need me." " You needed a caddie." " Palala will carry your bags to the boat." "You send me back on the basis of my gender, that's called sex discrimination." "Look, I understand your reservations." "I heard about your wife." "My wife?" "Good God, she left me." "I wish you'd follow her example." "Are we finished?" " You have a boat to catch." " No boat." " I want a meal and a bath." " This isn't a hotel." " I'll leave when I'm damn well ready." " I know, after a meal and a bath." "I'm not a 19-year-old grad student working up a resume." "And I don't expect to be treated as if I were." "I'm hungry, I'm tired... and I've been in these clothes for more than one dance." "Palala will see that you get some breakfast." "I said, and a bath." "Unbutton your shirt." "Excuse me?" "Do you want to bathe in their water supply?" "You'll take a medical first." "Sit down." "Here." " Is he gonna watch?" " Don't you want a nurse present?" " I'll risk it." " I won't." "Deep breath." "Now I understand why you've been so secretive about your research here." "You found the cure for the common hangover." "Look up." "Left." "Right." " Open your mouth." " There's nothing wrong..." "Say "ah.' '"" "Let me see your carnet." " My what?" " It's in your passport." "Your vaccine card." "This is completely unnecessary." "The principal cause of death among aboriginals is imported disease." "What do you see?" "I thought we did the eye examination." "Come on, you won two Thurman Awards, show off." "What am I analyzing?" "Did you run a base line?" "No." "Next time run a base line to calibrate the machine." "There's a glucose solution specifically for that." "Is that the substance you're analyzing?" "Yes." " What is it, a plant extract?" " Full marks." "Continue." "Okay." "We're looking at... 49 compound." "Okay, what we've got here is..." "Where was I?" "Okay, 49 compound." "No." "Nearly all of these are identifiable." "In short, nothing new." "Is this why you wanted the chromatograph?" "You said "nearly all identifiable.' '"" "Yeah." "Just this one, Peak 37." "Looks like an acid derivative." "Although those side..." "You must have thought you were onto something." " I'm sorry." " Can it be synthesized?" "This one's mother nature's kitchen." "End of story." "Why?" " What is it you think you've got?" " I don't think." " I know." " Share it." "What's the problem?" "Even as a child, I didn't like to share." "It was deep-seated, I suppose." "What is it, a secret?" "I'll cross my heart and spit on the floor." "You said breakfast and a bath." "You saving it for Sealove?" "Don't, he's not coming." "Then I'll settle for Robinson." "You were lucky you got me and last year's chromatograph." "I give up." "I believe our deal was bath, breakfast, and boat." "I didn't come here to make deals." "Then why did you come here?" "I'll leave the chromatograph for the time being." "I'm asking you a question." "You have no idea, have you?" "Aston's considering pulling your funds and shipping you out." "I'm your judge and jury." " Winslow would never permit that." " Winslow!" "Winslow retired last year." "If you hadn't cut off incoming, you would have known that." " Who replaced him?" " Me." "You don't send progress reports." "You move your damn station wherever and whenever you like." "You don't send in a record of expenses!" "And you don't respond to requests for information." "So here I am!" " Put this on." "I want to show you something." " I've seen it." "Put in on!" "Please." "Follow me." "This is Kalana... wife of Jahausa, mother of Imana." "Palpate her throat." "I'm not a medic." "Good God, woman, must everything be a full-scale debate with you?" "Just do it." "Feel anything?" "Nothing." "Six months ago, she came to see me." "Couple of lumps on her throat." "I sent her down river with a Franciscan missionary to the hospital." "Then she made her own way back." "It took her a month." "And the nodes were almost double the size." "Two injections of that sample you just tested... and the lumps disappeared within a week." "No boosters, no side effects." "That's just swell." "What am I supposed to report to the Foundation?" "Dr. Campbell showed me a cured patient... who claims a history of undiagnosed, undocumented lumps in her throat?" " You're untiring." " Here it is." " You're untiring." " Here it is." "Her scan report." "She brought it back from Manikovi." "That's delightful." "I'll bring it with me." "If you'll contact..." "Stage 2, anterior and posterior lymphomas." "Here." "Check her biopsy report." "What for?" "It could be anybody's." " Okay." " You think I'm lying?" "You're a man who's allowed his personal problems... to get in the way of his clinical judgment." "That's what I think." "Stay here." "Stay here." "He talks to me like a dog." "500,000 scientists in this world... and I end up with Dr. Mengele with a ponytail." "Now what?" "Good God!" "Feel that?" "What is it?" " A supraclavicular node." "Malignant." " How do you know?" "I gave it to him." "Transplanted tissue, I gave it to them all." "You will biopsy the lot." "I insist." "That is your control group." "And this lucky bugger gets an injection by nightfall... and tomorrow, in the morning, you will examine him." "Come on, I'm not proposing marriage." "I'm asking you to biopsy a family of rodents." "Spend 12 hours in a perfectly luxurious hammock." "You don't have to think about that, just nod." "No ball." "What was in the tin?" "The boys, you were giving them something from the tin." "Candy coated ants." "Do you want some?" "The tin is inside on the table." "I'll pass." "What about you?" "What is it?" " Freeze dried ice cream." " I'll pass." "Come on, the astronauts eat it." "It doesn't taste like ice cream." "When was the last time you had a double dip?" "The palate remembers." "That woman, Kalana?" "She called you something." "What's it mean?" "Medicine Man, that's me." " Don't they have one of their own?" " What?" "Medicine Man." "I gave Alka-Seltzer to a kid with a bellyache." "You did what?" "Alka-Seltzer." "It cured him with one belch." "But it was the plop and the fizz that really dazzled them." "The Medicine Man was understandably pissed off." "I had taken his stick." "Stick?" "Yeah, his self-respect." "His place." "He just took off." "My intentions were well meant." "You take the hammock, I'll sleep in the greenhouse." " If I need anything, I'll let you know." " You will?" "Good." "Thank you." "Dr. Campbell?" "Already?" "My name is Dr. Crane, Rae Crane." "Just in case you need to address me directly." "I thought I'd just call you Brooklyn." "I'm from the Bronx." "Oh, well, Bronx." "It doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it?" "Good night." " What the hell are you doing?" " I'm covering my ass." "I don't want you accusing me of playing switcheroo with your control group." "I get it, Peach Palm Festival, day two." "No festival, just a bedtime story." "You're staring at me." "Pyjamas." "I haven't seen pyjamas in... a long time." "Jesus!" "What is it now?" "God." "It's all right." "That's Henry." "He keeps the place free of rats." "Come on, old dear." "Look, I'll sleep with lizards and I'll sleep with guinea pigs..." "I understand." "A girl has to draw the line somewhere." "Come on, old dear." " Sweet dreams." " Go to hell." "Probably." "No." "You?" "Why do you think that?" " That's very funny." " Dr. Campbell?" "Imana." "Get stuffed, both of you." "Jesus, Campbell." "I know." "You know?" "You've found a cure for cancer, and all you can say is I know?" " What is it?" " Bromeliad." "The flower." "How'd you find it?" "Get dressed." "Okay." "I came here six years ago." "Why?" "A freak tribe, no cancer." " What about the woman you showed me?" " No, Jahausa married outside the tribe." "Kalana is an Exoti." " Then it's genetic." " No." "It's environmental." "The tribes have always inter-married." "But as far as I can tell... the bromeliad doesn't grow anywhere except here." "So the Exoti don't use it." "Kalana still doesn't put it in the food." "She says it tastes bad." "So they eat this flower?" "They ingest it." "Snuff." "And sometimes chewing tobacco." "It's in most of their food." "It grows wild, 100 feet up in the canopy." "Ten storeys up?" "On the top shelf of the pharmacological superstore." "It lives off a tree." "I've seen the old Medicine Man up there gathering for his juju kit... and there it was." "There's only one fly in the serum." "I can't reproduce it." "What do you mean?" "None of the new samples work." "I have very little of the original serum left." "That's what I mean when I say I can't reproduce it." "Wait a minute, I don't understand." "What don't you understand?" "I found a cure for the fucking plague of the 20th century and now I've lost it!" "Haven't you ever lost anything, Dr. Bronx?" "You purse, your car keys?" "It's rather like that." "Now you have it, now you don't!" " Your notes are gone?" " I have my notes." "I followed my notes." " Your notes must be wrong." " They're not." "Then explain it." "I can't." "Okay." "The first thing I do when I get to LA is I get Dr. Crouse." " His people can set up a real lab here." " There's nothing wrong with this lab." " We've got everything we need." " Look... this is major league." "You need help." "I promise you will get full credit." "Do you think I give a damn about the immortal textbook quote?" "Dare I insult you with a history lesson?" "Better still, how about subtraction?" "Nine million indians in the Amazon... white men bring measles, flu, polio, and chicken pox." "Now you've got 2,00,000 indians." "Without using your fingers, just how many did we shove in the hole?" "It's not like they'll be unvaccinated." "These people would work for Aston." "All precautions would be taken." "You don't remember Mocara." "Do you?" "You're too young." "Some overeager son of a bitch found a great little painkiller in the jungle." "Fifteen cents to make a $5 bottle." "Aston was on to it like a fly to dung." "All very scientific, all precautions taken." "Swine flu killed the entire village." "Much regret, so sorry." "The eager beaver still ended up with his 10 cents on the dollar..." "This isn't a painkiller." "This is the cure for cancer." "These people don't need a cure for cancer, ask them!" "There's a road coming into the area." "You're finished." "Aston can stop that!" "Aston will need the road." "They'll ensure that it leads right up to my palapa." " How can I go..." " How can you go when I need you here?" "What?" "No." "I'm a damn good bio-chemist." "I'm not a field researcher." "I haven't done this work for years." "I'm not qualified." "I know, too many foundation fund raisers." "Too many sub-committees." "Take two guinea pigs and call me in the morning." "When you're old and grey... you'll put lilies on my grave and wish you could thank me." "Yeah, well, I'll thank you now, but I'm still leaving." "How?" "Campbell?" " I'm not your prisoner." " No... you're my research assistant." "You're not afraid of heights, are you, Bronx?" "Right foot up." "There we go." "You give the counterweight a good yank... and up you go." "Come on." "I want you to see." "Come on." "All right." "Dr. Bronx?" "Left leg first." "And now the right." "All right?" "Come on." "Oh, God!" "Think of Neil Armstrong." "All right." "I'll give you one week." "Did you hear me?" "They're not in abundance." "If you find one, pop it in the bag." " Are you gonna tell me what they look like?" " Yes." "Like this." "Whatever this flower needs to fertilize, it gets it up here." "Whether it's an enzyme being transported by... an insect for the pollen... or God knows what leaking out of a tree." "It could be anything." "It could be everything." "That's the beauty of this system." "You can't beat it." "You can only wipe it out." "Is that the road?" "You see the river?" "No one can remember it ever being this low." " What about all the rain?" " Every year it rains less." "Less rainforest means less rain." "The indians have asked me to pray for a deluge." "Do you pray, Bronx?" "There's so much smoke." "I didn't know the road was so close." "Yes, well, death is inevitable, Dr. Bronx." "But it's considered bad form to discuss it over a man's sickbed." "Yeah, well, closing your eyes won't make it disappear." "Neither will talk." "Let's go." " You're a lunatic." " I'll show you a shortcut!" "God!" " When was it made?" " What?" "The eighth sample, when was it made?" "Data sheets, green notebook, top left." " You don't smoke, do you?" " No, I quit." "Good God, why?" "They've been missing from the last three shipments." "I suspect Jahausa's got something to do with it." "Your other left." "Last one." "Okay, look." "Here's the original extract, the one that works." "Here's the eight subsequent ones that don't work." "You notice anything?" "I'll give you a hint." "It's missing from every failed sample." "Peak 37." "Did you vary the solution?" "Do you think the bromeliad changes chemistry during its life cycle?" "It's not impossible." "But all these samples are dated within two weeks of each other." "Maybe the first batch was contaminated." "Maybe Peak 37 is a fungus." "I screened every sample, including the first one." "Yeah, maybe you used a dirty test tube." "Who knows?" "There's gotta be 1,000 variations on this plant extract." "And we've gotta make and test every single one of them." "I tell you, we need help." "We're looking at too many possibilities." "Isn't that what science is all about?" "Eliminating possibilities?" "You said you needed help." "Jahausa, can you tell them that I need them to break it from the root?" "How are we doing?" "Tell her if she breaks the leaves it's easier." "Imana, what are you doing?" "You're in my way." "Are you breaking them from the roots?" "It's Kalana." "I don't understand." "I'm sorry." "He wants to know if you have a date for the prom, euphemistically speaking." "Why are they staring at me?" "They've never seen a virgin of your maturity." "I had to give them some excuse." "You should have said she's engaged to be married." "Really?" "It's to be Mrs. Bronx?" " It will be, next winter." " I don't approve of long engagements." "We would have married earlier, but it wasn't convenient." "A marriage of convenience." "You probably know him, or at least his family." "Tom Falon?" "Tommy Falon!" "Good God, he's about 95 years old." "You'll inherit before the honeymoon's over." "I take my hat off to you, girl." "His son." "His son?" "No, I don't know the son, but I can well imagine." "Good stock." "Good contributor." "Met at a fundraiser, did we?" "What's the difference where I met him?" "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Mrs. Bronx." "Just remember, breeding is no substitute for intelligence." "It's often the death of it." "Do you have an unlimited supply of that stuff?" "The saliva speeds up the fermentation process." " Pass." " You might as well." "We can't test this lot for another 72 hours." "It'll go by just as fast if we're testing the local fungus." "I told you, I screened every sample." " There is another possibility." " Which is?" "A six-pack of peach Pernod... and you were drunker than a skunk when you did the test." "Pernod." "The "d" is silent." "If you're gonna hang around with the Falons, you'd better get it right." "Pernod." " Thank you, Doctor." " Shall I write it down for you?" "What if the missing step isn't here in the lab?" "Your Medicine Man, the first day you saw him collect the bromeliads." "What if he did something?" "Something you instinctively copied that first time... and haven't done since?" "What if it's in the harvesting?" "I counted at least three what ifs." "You don't start an investigation with "once upon a time"..." " What are you going to investigate?" " Not what, who!" "Your merry men must know where the Medicine Man is." "We should go and question him." "As you yourself pointed out, you're scarcely a qualified field researcher." "And as you've pointed out, research is a process of elimination!" "Don't you presume to tell me how to follow up." "Question the Medicine Man." "Don't you think I questioned the son of a bitch?" "Play somewhere else!" "Relax!" " They know not to urinate in the water." " That's not my concern." "It should be." "Urine attracts the spiky canderoo." "It's a relatively tiny fish that enters any available orifice." "Can't you blow a whistle?" "Maybe they'd like to fetch some golf balls." "The spikes are angled backwards and have to be surgically removed." "It's a hell of a procedure." " I came to apologize." " Are you serious?" " I lost my temper." " About the spikes?" "No, about the Medicine Man." " Damn it, Campbell, the spiky canderoo?" " Good God, where?" "I must admit, I've never actually seen one this far up river." "It's not a bad idea to keep your knickers on." "All gone." "Satisfied?" "I didn't mean to jump down your throat this afternoon." "Then I accept your apology." "Let's forget it." "The Medicine Man, he wouldn't answer my questions." "Until I got up to leave, and then he spoke one word:" " "Mocara.' '" " The swine flu epidemic?" "You told me." "He was afraid, you see, because in Mocara... their medicine man had shared forbidden juju magic... with the eager beaver... and swine flu... was the Gods' punishment for that indiscretion." "All right, he wouldn't talk." " He might talk to me." " A woman?" "Look, what do you wanna do?" "Sit on your hands for three days and pray for Peak 37?" "We could take Jahausa." "He could plead our case." "You could say you're sorry." "I don't think he knows it was me." "I meant sorry for the Alka-Seltzer." "I thought you meant Mocara." "Same story as Imana." "Supraclavicular node, non-tender." "Adherent to the surrounding tissues." " How big would you say?" " One centimeter." "I'll give it to you." "You can't, and you know it." "It's so close to his windpipe, he'll choke to death... before the cancer kills him." " It's not a weed, it's a tumor." "It can wait." " It's not a tumor, it's a child." "The child can wait, too." "You use up the last bit of the working serum and we have nothing." " You can't use the last of it." " We know the molecule." "A picture." "A ghost in a machine." "For Christ's sake, Campbell, use your head!" "The boy won't die in the next 48 hours." "If one of those beakers sprouts Peak 37... you can give samples away for Christmas, I'll help you wrap." "Suppose the new serums don't work?" "You said yourself you found the cure for the plague of this century." "It belongs to the human race, not to one sick kid." "Come on, give me that syringe." "It'll be my sleepless night." "Jahausa's taken his son to the Medicine Man." "When she woke up this morning, they were both gone." " She wants me to bring them back." " Medicine Man?" "Kalana, where's the Medicine Man?" " What is she saying?" " That Jahausa's is a fool." "For taking him there." "Who can show us where the Medicine Man is?" "Palala." " Palala can show us." " Can't hear you." "Get out of there!" "If we leave now, we can catch up to Jahausa!" "Can't hear you!" "You got some history, fine." "It's history." "Will you drag it around for the rest of your life?" "If that man has the answers, we need them." " I can't hear..." " Can you hear me now?" " What is it?" " Headache." "Keep your eyes down, the focus won't change... you won't get a headache." " You might have mentioned it earlier." " I'm sorry, I thought I did." "No, I've got something better." " No, give it." " No." " What is it?" " Yoco tree." "The bark is 3% pure caffeine." "Cures headaches, fatigue, aches, pains, neuritis, neuralgia." "Drink it." "It'll keep you on your feet till dinnertime." " Pass." " Drink it." " Pass!" " Drink it." "Or Palala will force you on your back, while I pour it down your gullet." " Isn't that right, Palala?" " Gullet." "Go ahead." " What's the name of this bark?" " It's called Yoco." "Yoco." "You know, this would knock Maxwell House right off the shelf." "If the narcs wouldn't stop me at the border." "This isn't a hallucinogen, is it?" " Which peak is his?" " None of the above." "The old man lives at the base of the gorge." "Downhill." "Yeah." "We gotta talk about marketing this stuff." "Of course, you'd have to add sugar." "Your version tastes like shit." "Man, they don't spit in this one, do they?" " Spit, no." "But..." " Okay, don't tell me." "Yocaf!" "Yospresso!" "Have you broken it down yet?" "Look at that!" "If I were the Medicine Man, I would have taken that penthouse." "Why does he live at the bottom?" "To get away from the constant gabbing, most likely." "Sorry for disturbing you." " You all right?" " I'm okay." "Go ahead, I'll catch up." "That Yocola sounds too much like a kids' drink." "I'm more interested in the mass market in..." "Okay, I'm more interested in the mass marketing of this drink for the adults... like a continental suave thing." "Is it difficult... to process that Yoco bark?" "Bronx?" " Where are you?" " I'm all right." "Don't play silly buggers." "Where are you?" "I'm all right." "I'm all right." "I'm okay." "Stay where you are." "I'm gonna lower a harness." "You've been to the circus?" "This is a piece of cake compared to the triple." "You can tell your kids you worked without a net." "Except, they're not gonna believe you." "All right, here we go." "Use your left hand." "You can reach the harness." "Now, come on, reach back for the harness!" "It's all right." "Don't cry." "I promise you, when this is over, you can cry all you want... and I won't say a word." "Now come on." "Reach for the harness." "No, I can't do it." "Change of plan." "Mohammed goes to the mountain." "The triple is easier." "All right, here I come." " All right?" "Okay?" " No!" "It's okay." "Just let go." " I can't do it, Campbell." " You don't have to." "We'll both go down together." "It's a hell of a short cut." "God!" "If I wanted to kill both of us, I could have found easier ways, no?" "Well, come on." "Let go." "Come on!" "Let go!" "Rae, let go!" "Come on!" " Move!" " Okay." "You're okay." "Just come down." "Come on." "There you go." " Come on." " I think I hate you." "Faster, let it go." "Come on." " I can't look." " Come on." " I can't look." " Don't look." "Work your hands." " What happened?" " Nothing happened." "What happened?" " Just calm down." " What're you doing?" "What do we do now?" "This is a rescue?" "What's the matter with you?" "What am I supposed to do, call 911?" "You idiot!" " Calm down." " Do something!" " Give me your hand." " This isn't a rescue." "This is a suicide pact." " You idiot!" " Calm down!" "Give me your hand." "What for?" "What, are you crazy?" "Well done." "Don't cry." "You were marvelous." "Really." "The best I've ever seen." "And I've been to the circus a great many times." "You were spectacular." "Really." "Don't cry." "You promised I could cry all I want." "Yes, I did." "Okay, go ahead." "Knock yourself out." "Fortunately, Palala salvaged your haversack." "Careful, that's Peach Pernod." " I lost it up there, I'm sorry." " It's okay." "I'm trying to thank you." "That was a good job." "Enough said." "Go easy on it." "Why?" "I'm not driving." "Or walking, apparently." " Now I know why you like this stuff." " What?" "Don't make me laugh." "Don't make me laugh." "It hurts." "Hold on." "That burns." " I know." " What is it?" "It's magic." "Magic, yeah." "That old black magic has got me in its spell" "Old black magic that you weave so well" "I know." "Terrifying..." "Icy fingers up and down your spine" "Down my spine?" "I'm in a spin, loving the spin I'm in" " All right, bed time." " Come on, sing it, Campbell." "Really big finish." "Come on, sing us a bar." "I should stay away, but what can I do?" "I hear your name" "I'm in a flame" "Come on, sing it." "Get some sleep, Rae." "Don't!" "What?" "Don't call me by my given name." "Don't you like it?" "Yeah, I like it." "Campbell?" "Are you ready for visitors?" "The Medicine Man?" "He's in the neighborhood." "How do you know?" "Call it a hunch." " We might be in the wrong gorge." " Somehow, I doubt that." "I mean, are you sure Palala knows where he lives?" "What if he doesn't?" "What do we do then?" "I thought I was dreaming." "Campbell, I thought..." "Okay, what's going on?" "It seems there's going to be a fight." "Between you and him?" "He's 3 feet tall, for Christ's sake." " You wanted to pick his brains." " Well, not off the sidewalk." "Ever mouth off to the Dean and then need a grant?" " This is an eat crow, kiss ass contest?" " Exactly." "Remember what I told you about taking his stick?" " I think this is about giving it back." " So he's gotta win?" "Okay." "Bend over, take three whacks, and let's cut to the info." "It doesn't quite work that way." " The tricky part is..." " Is what?" "Not getting my skull cracked in the process." "Tell him his mother eats army boots." " This is what happens when cousins marry!" " For Christ's sake!" " I was helping." " Well, don't!" " I don't need a bloody interpreter." " I do." " Don't push your luck, runt!" " Campbell." "Yeah, nice kiss." "What'd he say?" "What'd he say?" "Back to square one." "Where did I go wrong?" "Eating crow, or the kissing ass department?" "It wasn't a total loss." "My, my, isn't it all bright and shiny?" "I cleaned up a little, that's all." "These first four extracts will be ready to test by 7:00." "I'll set my alarm clock for 6:30." "Incidentally, the blue doesn't come off." "Get drunk somewhere else." "Hey, I live here." "Get sanctimonious somewhere else." "I tried to get drunk at Jahausa's, as a matter of fact." "But I soon tired of hearing him pray over his only son." "So I said to myself, "Why not visit Dr. Bronx..."" ""and her tabernacle of empirical evidence?"" " I'm not a monster, Campbell." " No, you're not a monster." "And if I have, in any way, labeled you monstrous... by gesture or manner, I sincerely beg your pardon." "I'd like to go to sleep now." "I have an early morning." "I wouldn't bother setting that alarm, Monster Bronx." "He won't make it through the night." "You don't know that." "I picture you at Imana's age... sitting in bed, awake, arms crossed, whispering:" ""I don't believe in ghosts.' '"" "Where was I, when you were 6 years of age and armed against the dark?" "Probably hiding, like you are now." "In the jungle, or in the bottle?" "To which hideout are you referring?" "Does it matter?" "It's not as difficult as you might think, watching someone die." "After 70 or 80 men, women, infants... you begin to feel quite numb." "When I left Jahausa's hut, I was coming here to get the magic serum." "Save myself, of course, not the boy... which makes me the monster." "You at least would save the world." "And the world is not one choking boy, in the middle of a disappearing forest." "Even though it seems that way, here in the dark... against which you are so well armed... and I've only this." "Enough." "Give me that bottle." "You're not a murderer." "That's not why she left you." "What the hell do you know about it?" "She left me... because I wouldn't allow her to forgive me." "She very much wanted to, you see." "But I couldn't forgive myself." "Until I do, no one... no one's allowed." "We've been invited to a prayer meeting." "I'll make your excuses." "Kalana!" "Yes, he's okay." "He'll be fine." "What's going on?" "Why is everyone running?" "Time's up." "A miracle without proof is only a miracle." " It does not stop bulldozers." " Look, Ornega, I injected him myself." "I'm not doubting it." "This bromeliad, I've never seen it growing anywhere else." "We can't transplant it to the lab." "Christ, I couldn't bring it down 100 feet from origin." "Now you move your roads through here, and we've lost it." "Come on, Roberto, it's not my road." "We need time." "We're testing new samples." "Seٌor Reyes has already been instructed to move the villagers." "If a test is successful in, say, the next 24 hours..." "The bulldozers are running night and day now." "I'm gonna retest." "It didn't work, Rae." "It's not here." "You promised me a week, you gave me a week." "Pack your bags, Rae, before the road gets here." "You're always throwing me out." "It's for your own good." " What do you know about it?" " Quite a bit." "You don't smoke, do you?" "There's gotta be a cigarette around here, somewhere." "Is this supposed to be me?" "Supposed to be?" "I think it's a very good likeness." "Well, take it if you want." "No, I'd rather you kept it." "Well, I certainly flattered you a bit by idealizing your forehead... but a man in love wouldn't notice the disparity." "A man in love?" "Tommy Falon the younger." "Give it to him." "I'm sure he sees your forehead exactly as I've drawn it... and he probably never noticed... that your left ear is lower than your right ear." "And when he's smitten, those are the details that..." "What are you running?" "Base line." " What are you using?" " Sugar solution." "The same solution you've used each time?" "No, I ran out." "Why?" "Where'd you get the sugar?" "Campbell?" "It's a damn poor time for having an iron man contest!" "Have you ever lost anything, Ornega?" "Your car keys, your wallet?" "It wasn't the bromeliads, it was the ants." "You're certain?" "I seem to have left the evidence in my other suit." "Campbell?" "Roberto?" "It's me, Miguel." "We can go, whenever you are ready." "No, I know what I'm looking for now." "If those little orange bastards exist somewhere else, I'll find them." "Look at yourself." "It's time out, my friend." "Six years and all your equipment." " Aston isn't going to..." " Aston will replace all of it... and provide him with a research assistant, per his request." "Dr. Sealove, if I remember, was your first choice." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "If you're ready, we should go." "Good luck." "Good luck to you." "You'll be in touch?" "They won't relocate where the government has indicated." "Sooner or later... they'll have no place left, then they'll go where they're told." "He says the Medicine Man has found a place upriver." "Medicine Man?" "You mean Campbell?" "No, that small one, over by the trees." "Give me a minute." "All right." "I'll tell him." "He said this was your stick." "He said it's all right now, he's found a good place." "And if you behave yourself, you can go with them." "He said he'll teach you big magic." "He said he's never met a man like you before." "And maybe, he never will again." "I'm gonna need an addition, too." "A new chromatograph, more scopes, callipers..." "I'll make sure you get everything you need." "When I reach the city, I'll contact Dr. Sealove." "I've reconsidered." "Dr. Sealove is my second choice now." "Come on, Bronx." "You think Tom Falon's gonna walk down the aisle... with a woman who has something blue as a tattoo on her forehead?" "I want joint publication." "You can have whatever you want." "What do you want?" "A meal and a bath." "Unbutton your shirt." "Dearest Tom, we're pushing upriver in search of those ants." "And with some luck, we'll get to them before the lumber companies do." "And about our marriage..." "I'm not so sure I'm ready for it yet." "Life is strange." "But down here... it seems... so very precious." "I'm coming!"