Blue Gold (NUMA Files 2)

“Correct. They retreated further into the forest rather than be pacified. I must confess that I learned more about them today than I knew in the three years I have been living here. I have seriously doubted they even exist. With this tribe you must separate facts from legend. The other Indians avoid the forest beyond the Great Falls. They say people who go into Chulo territory never come out. Their fear, as you saw today, is real. Those are the scant facts.”

“And the legend?” Gamay said.

“They can make themselves invisible,” Ramirez said with a smile. “They can fly. They can pass through solid obstacles. They are more like ghosts or spirits than men. They can’t be killed by ordinary weapons.”

“The bullet hole we saw puts that myth to rest,” Paul said.

“It would seem so,” Ramirez agreed. “There is another story, even more intriguing. The tribe is apparently matriarchal. A woman leads it. A goddess, in fact.”

“An Amazon?” Gamay suggested.

In answer, Ramirez pulled an object from his pocket. It was the pendant that had been hanging around the dead man’s neck. “Perhaps this is our winged goddess. It is said she protects her tribe and that her vengeance is terrible.”

“She who must be obeyed,” Gamay said dramatically.

“Pardon?”

Gamay smiled. “It’s a quote from an adventure story I read when I was young. About a jungle goddess who lived for thousands of years without aging.”

Paul took the pendant and studied it. “Goddess or not, she didn’t do a very good job of guarding the native we saw.”

The older man’s face darkened. “Yes, but at the same time . . . ”

“Is there something wrong?” Gamay said.

“I’m somewhat concerned. One of the village men came to me. He said there were stirrings of trouble in the forest.”

“What kind of trouble?” Paul asked.

“He didn’t know. Only that it had to do with the murdered Indian.”

“In what way?” Gamay asked.

“I’m not sure exactly.” He paused. “Creatures are being killed in this forest at this moment. Insects, animals, and birds are constantly involved in a violent struggle for life. Yet out of this bloody chaos there is an equilibrium.” His deep-set eyes seemed to grow even darker. “I fear that the killing of the Indian has disturbed this balance.”

“Maybe the Amazon goddess is about to wreak her revenge,” Paul said, handing the medallion back.

Ramirez swung the pendant back and forth on its thong as if he were Svengali using it as a hypnotic device. “As a man of science, I must deal with the facts. It is a fact that someone out there has a gun and has no hesitation about using it. Either the Indian strayed out of his territory or someone with a gun invaded it.”

“Do you have any thoughts on who this person might be?” Gamay asked.

“Perhaps. Do you know anything about the rubber industry?”

Both Trouts shook their heads.

“A hundred years ago rubber trees grew only in the Amazon jungle. Then a British scientist stole some seeds to start vast rubber plantations in the east. The same thing is happening now. The shaman who accompanied us on our burial detail today is a bit of a fraud when it comes to chasing out evil demons, but he knows the medicinal value of hundreds of rain forest plants. People come here and say they are scientists, but they are really pirates looking for herbs that have medicinal properties. They sell the patents to multinational drug companies. Sometimes they work directly for the companies. In either case the companies make fortunes while the natives who have harbored the knowledge get nothing. Even worse, sometimes men come in and take the medicinal plants.”

“You think one of these ‘pirates’ tortured and shot the Indian?” Paul asked.

“It’s possible. When millions are at stake, the life of a poor Indian means nothing. Why they shot him, I don’t know. It’s possible he simply saw something he shouldn’t have. These plant secrets have been with the forest inhabitants for generations.”

“Is anybody trying to stop these pirates?” Gamay said.

“It is a problem. Sometimes government officials are in collusion with the drug companies. The stakes are very high. The governments care little about the indigenous people. They are interested only in how to sell the natives’ genetic knowledge of plants to the highest bidder.”

“So the piracy goes unchecked?”

“Not quite. The universities are sending teams of true scientists to track down the pirates. They are doing research on plants themselves, but at the same time they talk to the Indians and ask if there have been strangers asking questions. Our neighbors in Brazil have tried to stop the theft of genetic resources in the court. They sued a scientist for cataloging seeds and tree bark the Indians use for cures and charged him with stealing knowledge from indigenous people.”