Abby grabbed the nurse forcefully with her left arm. “No! I need the doctor now! It’s an emergency.”

The nurse spoke in a measured tone but didn’t pull away. “You were dehydrated and suffering from an adder bite. But you are all right now.”

“No, not me. My people—they’re dying! Please.” She loosened her grip on the nurse’s arm.

The nurse looked into her eyes. “I’ll tap her.”

Five minutes later a woman dressed in blue scrubs entered the room. “I’m Dr. Sampson. I’m glad you’re awake. You’re doing amazingly well considering how you got here.” She glanced at the electronic pad in her hands. “You were dehydrated and suffering from heatstroke, you had a concussion from that knock on your head, and you had an adder bite. We gave you antivenin for the bite, and the swelling has receded. The IV fluids have rehydrated you. We are monitoring the concussion, but you appear to be recovering nicely.”

She looked at Abby and smiled. “You must have had quite an adventure. How long had you been in the canoe?”

Abby didn’t answer but just stared at the doctor’s face.

“Maybe we should back up a little. Can you tell me your name?”

Abby shook her head and finally spoke. “I’m sorry. I was just…You’re Caucasian.”

The doctor had a quizzical look momentarily, then a softer expression. “Yes, I am. I’m from the United States. You must not be accustomed to seeing Caucasian faces.”

Abby shook her head again. “Except for a man on the river last week, not in the last eight years.”

“Eight years? You must not travel out from the interior often.”

“No. Never.”

The doctor raised her eyebrows. “Never? How did you get to the interior?”

“My parents. Please, can you help? They’re dying.”

“Your parents are dying?”

“No, my parents are dead. My village is dying. Can you come?”

Kate Sampson felt a knot in her stomach the minute she instructed her Grid interface to tap the health minister. Their last encounter, a face-to-face one, hadn’t ended on the best of terms. A New Guinean with a receding gray hairline appeared on her visiscreen.

“Dr. Poon.”

“Dr. Sampson. Are you still in our country?”

He knew perfectly well she was. Hers was the only hospital in the country’s second largest city, and she was the internal medicine department. She let the remark slide.

“I need your approval for a medical mission.”

“In your position you are free to travel as necessary, Doctor.”

“These patients are Inisi.”

Poon’s eyebrows rose. “Inisi? You’ve been in touch with Inisi?”

“No. An American woman living in an Inisi village was found unconscious on the Sepik yesterday. She says her village is dying of some disease.”

“All outsiders are banned from contact with the Inisi.”