“Yes, I know that. She says that, at the request of the tribe, her family was given permission years ago to remain with them. She came out seeking medical help for her village.”

“What disease?”

Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. She describes the symptoms as headache, disorientation, dizziness, vomiting, and loss of memory, then coma. It doesn’t match any of the jungle diseases.”

Poon shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. How many have died?”

“Four as of the time she left.”

“How long from onset to death?”

“Three days. Maybe less.”

“Is she symptomatic?”

“No. And we’ve run all viral tests on her.”

“Negative?”

Kate nodded. “Dr. Poon, I need your authorization.”

He shook his head vigorously. “I can’t authorize that. Not to the Inisi. The Interior—”

“It’s my understanding that you can authorize it to contain a contagious disease.” They stared at each other a moment. “Isn’t that true?”

“Dr. Sampson, we don’t know how contagious—”

“It’s infected an entire village and killed at least four. Dr. Poon”—she stepped closer to her visiscreen—“this woman, my patient, is desperate. She canoed all the way out to save her village.”

“Then she possesses both endurance and patience. She can wait until I obtain permission from the Interior Ministry. Good day, Doctor.”

His image disappeared. Kate sat fuming. After a few moments she accessed the interface with her assistant, who appeared on the visiscreen.

“Yes, Dr. Sampson?”

“Amu, secure the helicopter.”

“For what time?”

“Immediately.”

Kate looked across the passenger compartment of the medical helicopter. By the terrified look on Abby’s face, Kate could tell the takeoff had been rough on her. But she had adapted quickly. Since the helicopter had leveled off shortly afterward, Abby hadn’t stopped looking out the window. From time to time on their headsets, they heard the pilot note their location. “Thank you,” Abby would always respond.

The truth was, they didn’t know exactly where they were headed. Up the river Abby had traversed, the Sepik. Then up a major tributary, the Yuat, off which the Inisi tribe lived. After that, who knew? Abby couldn’t name the smaller tributary where her village was situated. Jmîî juee’, they called it. The River. Satellite mapping was useless; the Inisi were spread over a wide area. Finding one village might take all day.

The effort was worth it to her. Approval or no approval, Kate wasn’t about to place the survival of an entire village on the desk of some bureaucrat in Port Moresby. She had come to Papua New Guinea four months before with Matt, her life partner and fellow physician, to save lives, not wait on pencil pushers. The government had started a new health program, providing critical care and medical maintenance to tribes via boat and helicopter. It was exactly the sort of adventure she sought: bringing healing to the true wild, the still untamed interior of the vast island.