by Stuart Gibbs
“I don’t suppose you have another one of those dart guns?” she asked.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Meanwhile, Charlie was facing down Esmerelda’s brothers with the swollen creek at her back. Paolo and Gianni no longer had guns—Dante and Milana had taken theirs—but they did have brute strength. Charlie knew some basics of self-defense, but not enough to defeat both men at once.
Plus, she had Eve to protect.
Eve obviously recognized the men as a threat. She was facing them in a defensive posture, signaling she was ready to protect herself, but Charlie suspected it was just a front; the wounded creature didn’t have much fight left in her.
Even worse, the behavior seemed to be producing the wrong response from the Castellos. Both men regarded Eve fearfully, but instead of backing off, they armed themselves, grabbing large pieces of wood to use as clubs.
“You’re gonna pay for what you did to us,” Gianni warned Charlie menacingly, then told his brother in Italian, “If that thing comes near us, bash its head in.”
“I’ll bash it even if it doesn’t come near us,” Paolo replied.
Charlie understood Italian. She placed a hand on Eve, who flinched at her touch, but then looked to her with questioning eyes.
The Castello brothers came toward them, brandishing their clubs menacingly.
Charlie turned and ran. Eve understood they were opting for flight over fight and came with her.
Rather than try to swim across the flooded creek, Eve scampered up a tree that arched over the water. Despite her wounded leg, she climbed with the grace and agility of an animal equally comfortable in a tree as on the ground. She paused halfway up to look back at Charlie expectantly, as if wanting her to follow.
Charlie didn’t hesitate. It certainly would have been easier to simply swim across the creek, as she wasn’t designed for climbing like Eve, but she remembered the howl of warning Eve had given when she had gotten too close to the water before. So she clambered up the tree. She probably didn’t look good doing it, as the bark was slick from the rain, but she was still spry and nimble and got up all right.
The Castellos charged, racing toward the tree, although Charlie scrambled high enough to be out of their reach.
Eve skillfully used the tree as a bridge over the creek, but when she dropped down to the opposite bank, her wounded leg crumpled beneath her and she let out a wail of pain.
“Eve!” Charlie yelled. She was moving much more slowly across the tree, exercising caution to make sure she didn’t slip off and plunge into the water.
The Castellos now shifted their focus to Eve, who was limping along, dragging her wounded leg. The men were too big and clumsy to climb the tree, so they simply waded into the creek, intending to ford it and grab Eve.
The anaconda attacked when they were halfway across.
It had been lurking in the water only a few feet from where Charlie had been before. Since much of the snake was hidden by the murky water, Charlie couldn’t tell how long it was, but its body was over a foot wide. It moved with startling speed for such a big creature, first sinking its teeth into Gianni’s torso and then coiling around him.
Gianni was quickly overwhelmed. While the man didn’t feel residual pain, he was certainly hurting now—and he was terrified. Anacondas didn’t kill by crushing their victims, but by suffocating them, squeezing them so tightly that they couldn’t breathe. Plus, the snake was big enough to overpower Gianni and drag him underwater.
Paolo raced to his brother’s aid. He whacked the anaconda with his club as hard as he could, but to no effect. The wood splintered apart on the snake’s leathery hide, after which Paolo resorted to using his bare hands, desperately trying to pry the snake off his brother. The snake responded by wrapping its tail end around Paolo as well.
From her perch in the tree above, Charlie watched what was happening with horror, although she knew there was nothing she could do. If the snake could overwhelm two men as big and powerful as the Castellos at once, she would have no power to stop it. To save them, she had to find someone with a weapon. Knowing the men were quickly running out of time, she made it the rest of the way across the branch, dropped to the far bank, scooped Eve up in her arms, and ran off to look for help.
* * *
Milana felt like she had been hit by a truck. She opened her eyes and found herself lying in the mud. Her muscles were numb and her mind was so sluggish, it took her a few moments to recall what had happened.
Someone had shot her with a tranquilizer dart. She had seen Dante get hit right before her, so she had reacted quickly when she had been struck, knocking the dart away before its full dose could be injected into her, but still, some had gotten into her system. Enough to knock her out for a bit and go to work on her muscles. Every movement was now a struggle for her.
She rolled her head to the side and saw Dante splayed on the ground a few feet away. For a moment she feared he was dead, but then she saw his chest rise slightly as he breathed in.
However, there was no sign of Charlie or any of the others.
The storm had passed, but so much water was dripping from the canopy above, it was as though she were still caught in a light rain. She could hear thunder rumbling in the distance.…
And something else. A whirring noise, quite far away, but getting louder.
Milana recognized the sound.
Oh no, she thought.
She willed herself to get up, mustering every ounce of strength she had, but the best she could do was prop herself up on her arms. Her legs were completely useless.
Which meant she was completely useless.
Wherever Charlie was, she was on her own.
* * *
Esmerelda was horrified.
She and Ivan had split up to search the lost city for Charlie Thorne. Esmerelda had come across Charlie’s footsteps and followed them to the creek… where she found what had become of her brothers. She had arrived too late to save them. The anaconda had already killed them both. Gianni’s body was floating facedown in the creek, while the giant snake was actually consuming Paolo. It had unhinged its jaw and begun the long process of swallowing her brother headfirst. Esmerelda was so shaken by the sight of it that she couldn’t even move. She could only stare in shock.
And then that shock turned to rage. Rage at Charlie Thorne.
Because none of this would have happened if it weren’t for Charlie. Esmerelda’s brothers would still be alive. Her beautiful face wouldn’t be ruined. Darwin’s treasure would have been hers to claim with ease.
Ivan Spetz had told her he wanted Charlie alive. And so Esmerelda would leave her alive for now, for long enough to let Ivan get her out of this cursed place. But after that she would have her revenge.
Charlie Thorne would pay.
* * *
It took Charlie a few minutes to find a place to cross back over the swollen creek and reenter the lost city. She didn’t want to risk running into any more anacondas—or caimans or piranhas, for that matter—and she was still carrying Eve. If big men like the Castellos could fall prey to something in the rain forest, a small, wounded creature like Eve would be in great peril. Charlie knew she had to return Eve to her family.
As she passed through the ruins again, she heard the whirring sound and recognized what it was.
A helicopter.
It came in low, buzzing right over the top of the canopy, the wind from its rotors shaking the trees so hard that all the water gathered in their leaves fell off and rained down again. It was large and dark green, like a military troop transport, rather than a smaller tourist chopper, and its landing skids were fitted with air-filled pontoons, which made sense, as there was no place to land a helicopter in the dense rain forest except for on the water. Sure enough, the helicopter swung around over the lake and began to lower onto it.
Eve made a sudden squawk in Charlie’s arms, indicating she had been spooked by something, but before Charlie could react, she felt the sting of a dart in her thig
h. She whirled around to see Ivan Spetz behind her with the dart gun in his hand and a satisfied grin on his face, like he was having fun.
Charlie tried to run, but the sedative was already acting on her. All she could do was cradle Eve in her arms to protect her as she fell.
And that was the last thing she remembered.
THIRTY-NINE
Somewhere over the Peruvian Amazon
When Charlie awoke, she was in the helicopter. She could tell without even opening her eyes. The thrum of the rotors was deafening and made the entire craft tremble.
She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to give away that she was awake yet. In truth, she didn’t feel that she was awake yet. Thanks to the sedative, she was still in the hazy place between consciousness and sleep, which wasn’t optimal. So she tried to deduce what she could about her surroundings, hoping that solving those problems would help sharpen her wits.
She was lying on the floor, which was metal and thus cool against her cheek. Her wrists were bound with plastic zip ties, but in front of her body, rather than behind her back, which gave her at least a little use of her hands. Something warm and wet was resting against her. Her slightly addled mind immediately thought of a pet dog, but then she realized it was Eve. The creature was snuggled up against her so closely that Charlie could feel her heartbeat; it was relatively slow, indicating that Eve was asleep.
Charlie could also hear voices. The rotors were too loud for her to discern what anyone was saying, but that indicated everyone was a good distance away from her, which made her feel it was safe to open her eyes.
She did, and discovered she was right about everything she had deduced so far. The helicopter was definitely designed for military use; it was big and empty to allow for carrying as many people as possible, and a row of jump seats ran along both walls. Each side also had a large sliding door, which was currently locked. Everything was lit by a single dim fixture at the top of the cabin. The interior was painted dark green, with occasional words stenciled on the sides in both Russian and Spanish: instructions to the passengers to remain seated while in flight and to not deploy parachutes inside. The Spanish lettering was much sloppier, indicating to Charlie that the helicopter had originally been used for the Russian military and then sold to Peru.
Apparently, the SVR was still allowed the use of it when needed. Charlie assumed Ivan Spetz had called for it upon arriving at the lost city, probably with some sort of advanced satellite phone. (Whatever he had used, it was much better than the phones Dante and Milana had carried, which hadn’t found a signal in over a week.) The cockpit was open to the body of the helicopter, unlike that of an airplane, and Ivan was seated in the copilot’s seat. Charlie couldn’t make out anything about the pilot from her position.
The sky out the windows in front of them was dark, although there was still a sliver of light along the horizon. Sunset. Charlie had been unconscious for more than an hour. Given the location of the sun, they were heading south.
Esmerelda sat in the closest jump seat to the cockpit, discussing something with Ivan. Both had radio headsets on, in part to shut out the din of the rotors and in part to make conversation easier over the noise.
Charlie was feeling better, more awake. To make sure she had all her wits about her, she performed a few complex mathematical equations in her mind.
Next Charlie tested her muscles to see if she had regained control over them. She could move all her fingers and toes, which was a good sign.
Esmerelda was still focused on Ivan, unaware that Charlie was awake.
Charlie shifted her head slightly, looking for what she needed most: her backpack.
She spotted it hanging on a row of hooks on the wall, along with everyone else’s packs. It was ten feet away, much closer to Esmerelda than it was to Charlie, which was a problem. Charlie would be lucky to get to it before Esmerelda noticed her and would have only seconds after that at best.
Therefore, she would have to think everything through very carefully. Dante and Milana were no longer with her. It was up to her to protect Eve—and Eve’s entire species.
Charlie closed her eyes again, giving the impression she was asleep, and ran through what she needed to do over and over, until she had everything worked out. Then she took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves.
In the cockpit, she thought she heard Ivan say they would reach the airport in Cuzco in fifteen minutes. Which meant Charlie had to act fast.
She slowly shifted herself away from Eve, trying not to wake her up. The creature was probably heavily sedated, but Charlie didn’t want to take any chances. Eve’s chest kept rising and falling slowly, indicating she was still asleep. Charlie cradled Eve’s head as she slipped away and carefully laid it on the metal floor. Eve remained unconscious.
Then, as quickly as she could, Charlie leapt to her feet and went for her backpack. There was no point in trying to be slow and stealthy; that would only increase the amount of time in which the others might notice her. As it was, the roar of the rotors covered any noise she made.
Unfortunately, her legs weren’t as steady as she’d hoped. Between the sedative and the shimmy of the helicopter, she was off-balance. She nearly fell once, then threw herself forward with too much force, slamming into the wall beside the backpack, making a dull thud.
Esmerelda heard it and turned. The moment she spotted Charlie, hatred flashed in her eyes. She leapt from her seat, on the attack. “She’s up!” she yelled, getting Ivan’s attention too.
Charlie grabbed the backpack and tumbled backward to the floor. Her hands were working far better than her legs, so she managed to open the pack and reach inside. The piece of the plant she had found by the swollen creek was on top. She pulled it out of the way, reaching deeper into the pack for what she needed.…
And then Esmerelda was on top of her, roughly yanking her to her feet and slamming her into one of the jump seats. She wrenched the backpack away from Charlie and dug into it herself, coming up with the large hunting knife that had been tucked inside, the gift from Segundo. “Is this what you were looking for?” Esmerelda challenged mockingly. “What did you think you were going to do, fight your way out of here? We’re five thousand feet in the air.”
Charlie didn’t answer that. Instead, she said, “I don’t care what you do with me. But you need to let Eve go.”
“Eve?” Esmerelda glanced at the creature still sleeping on the floor of the helicopter. “You named her? Like a pet?”
“Like a human,” Charlie replied defiantly. “You can’t take her back to civilization. Please.”
Esmerelda brandished Charlie’s own knife at her menacingly. “You’re in no position to make demands.”
Ivan came to Esmerelda’s side and, with one deft move, snatched the knife from her hands. Then he looked to Charlie curiously. “We’re not going to do Eve any harm,” he said reassuringly. “We’re only going to reveal her existence to the world.”
“But that will harm her,” Charlie argued. “What happens to her after the world knows about her? She won’t be returned to the wild to be with her family. She’ll probably be kept in a lab for the rest of her life. And then scientists will come for the rest of them, too. The life they know will be over.”
“Scientists study plenty of animals in the wild,” Ivan countered. “Intelligent animals. Jane Goodall didn’t ruin the lives of the chimpanzees she studied.”
“No,” Charlie admitted. “But chimps were still probably better off before humans knew they existed. All creatures were. And these creatures are different. They’re smarter than anything else we’ve encountered before.…”
“They’re brutal,” Esmerelda spat. “I saw what they did to those idiots from the refinery.”
“Because those men tried to hurt them,” Charlie insisted. “They attacked the creatures first. They shot Eve. Look at her.” Charlie pointed to the sleeping creature.
Esmerelda and Ivan did.
“They would have killed her,” Charlie said. �
��That’s how it goes with every species. For every person who wants to study them, there’s someone else who wants to kill them. For food. Or for hunting trophies…”
“No one would hunt these,” Ivan said. “They’re too close to being human.”
“That might be exactly why someone would want to kill them,” Charlie said. “Because their similarity to us scares people. What do you think happened when Darwin found them? Why do you think he didn’t bring one back to England? It would have been irrefutable proof of evolution, that humans evolved from other species. But the world wasn’t ready for them.”
“That was a long time ago,” Ivan said. “The world has changed.”
“Not enough,” Charlie replied. “There are still plenty of places in the world, even in America, where evolution isn’t accepted, where talk of it is regarded as blasphemy. Those people claim that all the fossils we’ve found aren’t really evidence for evolution—or are hoaxes—but what could they possibly say about Eve? I know she’s not evolving into a human, but she’s definitely evolving into something like us. And that’s going to be a problem.”
Ivan considered Eve again, as though intrigued by Charlie’s arguments. “We could still protect the others of her species…,” he began.
“The only way to really protect them is to keep their existence a secret,” Charlie said assuredly.
“Don’t be a fool,” Esmerelda told her. “It’s not like that will work forever. Sooner or later, someone else will find them. In fact, at the rate the Amazon is being destroyed, those creatures will be lucky to have a home for another fifty years.”
“Then they’ll at least have fifty more years,” Charlie said. “I know they won’t be able to be protected forever. But I don’t want to be responsible for ending everything. I’d rather be the one who gives them more time.”
