The Andromeda Evolution. Michael Crichton

bluish lines tattooed across their upper cheeks and thick black hair chopped in bowl cuts.

      “Are they not Indians?” asked Peng.

      “Those are Matis frontiersmen,” responded Vedala, “and they know this territory well. Until forty years ago, they were one of the uncontacted tribes.”

      Vedala nodded to a large man with a sweat-stained green shirt neatly tucked into military fatigues. Unlike the others, this soldier was Anglo, and he carried a high-tech battle rifle strapped over his chest. The weapon appeared well-used, bristling with after-market attachments.

      “And the final item on our agenda,” said Vedala. “Meeting our guides.”

      As if on cue, the soldier stood and began to stride toward them, heavily muscled arms swinging. The bearded Brazilian American spit out a toothpick as he approached the group, snapping words at them with a Portuguese accent.

      “Listen up, people. My name is Sergeant Eduardo Brink, United States Army Special Forces. I have been instructed by General Stern to handle you with kid gloves. But this is the Amazon wild. This jungle does not care for your credentials. It does not care for your intelligence. Or for your technology. It was here before you and it will be here after you are gone.”

      “If we’re lucky,” muttered Stone.

      Brink flashed a cold stare down at the roboticist before continuing. “You are already deep into the territory of indios bravos, wild Indians of Brazil. Make no mistake. You are not welcome. It is sheer luck that I was stationed here with FUNAI and available to accompany you. Our rendezvous with command is in forty-eight hours, at the prescribed destination. If we are not there, command will assume we were killed in action and proceed with alternate plans. My job is to get you where you’re going, on time … alive.”

      Brink’s voice lowered, and he stepped closer to Stone.

      “And let me be very clear, amigo … without me, you will die here.”

      The group of scientists exchanged worried glances, and the sergeant seemed satisfied. Turning, he spoke rapid-fire to the native soldiers, who tossed away cigarettes and rose to their feet. Some pulled tumplines over their foreheads, using the woven straps to carry luggage while leaving their arms free. A few others set off into the jungle without a word. The whistling snaps of machetes were audible as they set about hacking a new path through the dense wall of undergrowth. Brink turned back to the scientists, pulling a toothpick from his shirt pocket and clenching it between his teeth in a wide, menacing smile.

      “You don’t have to like me, boys and girls. You just have to obey me. Because the very last thing you want is to end up out here all alone.”

       Manifest

      DISPATCHED TO THE AMAZON JUNGLE ON AN HOUR’S notice, the Wildfire field team had been as well equipped as possible given the abbreviated logistical timeline. The following partial manifest is technical in nature, but nonetheless illuminating in its content. Previously classified, the full inventory is now stored in the National Archives.

       *** APPROVED STANDARD ISSUE MANIFEST—ALL TEAM ITEMS ***

      Tropical loadout as determined by Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center (est. Okinawa, Japan). All items stowed in Umlindi all-weather backpack, Tarahumara attachment, chest-mounted heavy recon kit bag. ATTIRE to incl. standard-issue civilian jungle dress, USMC-approved boots, Merino blend socks x4, tactical wind shirt, rain gear. TOOL and TOOL ROLL to incl. machete, whistle, compass, flashlight, fire starter, multi-tool, all-purpose utensil, leather gloves, trowel. SLEEP SYSTEM to incl. hammock w/ bug screen and rain fly, mountain serape, cordage.

      Local guides to carry SURVIVAL KIT / COOKING KIT / TRAUMA KIT / WEAPONS KIT.

       *** APPROVED SPECIAL MANIFEST ***

      NIDHI VEDALA, MD-PHD

      Aerosolized cellulose-based Andromeda inhibitor, 200 oz. Based on subject’s Wildfire research and developed in cooperation with Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Delhi campus. (Protected by US top-secret classification and IIT Act in the Republic of India.) Contains no latex elements. Mimics the Andromeda nanostructure to remain invisible to known microparticle varieties (AS-1 & AS-2). Multiple interleaved layers are self-cleaning, providing a low-viscosity surface that repels liquid, dust, etc. Totally inert, indigestible, and requiring infrequent reapplication.

      HAROLD ODHIAMBO, PHD

      Projectile-tipped seismic sensor package, 16 count. Single-use deployment, locally networked and AI-enabled. Developed under Kenyan government research grant KIR-2300B and designed for detection of wildlife migration, geological activity, and criminal poaching. Fine-tunable for surface or subsurface events, with innate machine-learning capability for pattern recognition and noise cancellation. Additional specialty loadout, incl.: compact infrasound detector; soil moisture meter; portable core saw.

      PLA MAJOR PENG WU

      Chinese-made Dyclone-Wa portable field science and engineering kit—including packable light microscopy; portable autoclave; mass spectrum analyzer; gas and liquid chromatograph; pH meter; refractometer; microcentrifuge; wireless data logging and backup; satellite upload capability; twenty-seven built-in sensors and autosampler; and automatic sensor testing and calibration. Appropriate for field experimentation across multiple disciplines.

      JAMES STONE, PHD

      Palm-size “canary” self-charging mini-drones, 12 count. Charging base station integrated into portable backpack. Mounted with five-axis radial blade, four propellers with redundant, interchangeable parts. Sensor package: miniaturized laser rangefinder (submillimeter precision); low- and high-res camera imaging; gyroscopic inertial measurement unit; toxin-detecting environmental sensors (including AS-1 and AS-2 detection). Capable of concerted real-time map-building; collision avoidance; three-dimensional path-finding. No extra payload capacity.

      SERGEANT EDUARDO BRINK, US ARMY

      <REDACTED by order of US Government Approved Presidential Secret Order #3028.>