friendly lines around the corners of her eyes and mouth, no makeup. Her nose was large but perfectly shaped and her jaw betrayed strength, a strength that also was apparent in her body, beautifully formed but built for a lifetime of swimming and skiing. Her skin, where it disappeared under the fabric of her sundress, looked like it was taking on a healthy shade of copper from the equatorial sun.
She had commented on my book ... "It's an old friend," I said, smiling.
Lacklan looked from one to the other of us, irritated. "You're Kardec?" he demanded. "I'm John Lacklan." He was tall and slightly stooped. A thin blue vein pulsed in one of his temples as he peered at me from behind glasses with round, nearly black lenses. Vandover had told me he was an administrator at one of the big government labs . back in the States. Atom bombs or something.
Lacklan pushed ahead, up the stairs. "I understand you're the authority on diamonds?" The way he said "authority" indicated that he doubted it.
"Well" I hesitated because I was well aware of all that I didn't know "maybe. Will you sit down? We'll have a drink."
Raj was already at my elbow. He was a Sea Dyak, not over sixteen, but his mind was as quick and intelligent as anyone I've ever encountered.
"Scotch," Helen said, "with soda ... about half."
Raj nodded and glanced at Lacklan, who waved a careless hand. "The same," he said.
When Raj returned with our drinks, Helen sat there sipping hers and watching me. From time to time, she glanced at her husband, and although she said nothing, I had an idea that she missed nothing.
"You've been up the Baram, above Long Sali?" he asked.
"Yes." I saw no reason for explaining just how far I had gone. Marudi was a rough sixty miles from the mouth and Long Sali was a village a hundred fifteen miles farther upriver.
"Are there diamonds up there? Gemstones?"
"There are," I agreed, "but they are scattered and hard to find. Most of the stones are alluvial and are washed out of creeks back up the river. Nobody has ever located their source."
"But you know where diamonds can be found, and you can take us to them. We're not wasting our time?"
In this part of the world I had become used to the cultures of Chinese and Malay, Muslim and British, all of these groups had a sense of politeness or patience bred into them. In comparison the directness and force of Lack-lan's questions was like an attack.
"You are not wasting your time," I assured him. "I've found diamonds. I can't promise, but with luck, I can find more. Whether they are bort or gem quality will be anyone's guess."
"You speak the language?" he asked.
"I speak marketplace Malay," I said, "and a scattering of Iban. Also," I added dryly, "I know that country."
"Good! Can you take us there?"
"Us?" I asked cautiously. "Your wife, too?"
"She will go where I go."
"It's our project, Mr. Kardec," Helen Lacklan said. She stretched out a long, firm hand to show me the ring on her finger. An empty setting stared up at me like a blind eye. "John gave me this ring five years ago. We're going to find the stone together."
It was a wonderful, romantic notion but far easier said than done.
"You know your business best," I said carefully, "but that's no country for a woman. It's jungle, it's miserably hot, and there are natives up there who have never seen a white man, let alone a white woman. Some of them can't be trusted."
I was thinking of one nefarious old codger in particular.
"We'll be armed." His manner was brusque and I could see his mind was made up. I suddenly had a vision that both amused me and made me very nervous: John Lacklan as Henry Stanley blasting his way through the forests of central Africa. His chin was thrust out in a way that told me he was primed for an argument ... I knew to never come between a man and his weapons, especially when he's a client. I turned to her.
"I don't want to offend you, Mrs. Lacklan, but it is very rough country, bad enough for men alone, and
She had commented on my book ... "It's an old friend," I said, smiling.
Lacklan looked from one to the other of us, irritated. "You're Kardec?" he demanded. "I'm John Lacklan." He was tall and slightly stooped. A thin blue vein pulsed in one of his temples as he peered at me from behind glasses with round, nearly black lenses. Vandover had told me he was an administrator at one of the big government labs . back in the States. Atom bombs or something.
Lacklan pushed ahead, up the stairs. "I understand you're the authority on diamonds?" The way he said "authority" indicated that he doubted it.
"Well" I hesitated because I was well aware of all that I didn't know "maybe. Will you sit down? We'll have a drink."
Raj was already at my elbow. He was a Sea Dyak, not over sixteen, but his mind was as quick and intelligent as anyone I've ever encountered.
"Scotch," Helen said, "with soda ... about half."
Raj nodded and glanced at Lacklan, who waved a careless hand. "The same," he said.
When Raj returned with our drinks, Helen sat there sipping hers and watching me. From time to time, she glanced at her husband, and although she said nothing, I had an idea that she missed nothing.
"You've been up the Baram, above Long Sali?" he asked.
"Yes." I saw no reason for explaining just how far I had gone. Marudi was a rough sixty miles from the mouth and Long Sali was a village a hundred fifteen miles farther upriver.
"Are there diamonds up there? Gemstones?"
"There are," I agreed, "but they are scattered and hard to find. Most of the stones are alluvial and are washed out of creeks back up the river. Nobody has ever located their source."
"But you know where diamonds can be found, and you can take us to them. We're not wasting our time?"
In this part of the world I had become used to the cultures of Chinese and Malay, Muslim and British, all of these groups had a sense of politeness or patience bred into them. In comparison the directness and force of Lack-lan's questions was like an attack.
"You are not wasting your time," I assured him. "I've found diamonds. I can't promise, but with luck, I can find more. Whether they are bort or gem quality will be anyone's guess."
"You speak the language?" he asked.
"I speak marketplace Malay," I said, "and a scattering of Iban. Also," I added dryly, "I know that country."
"Good! Can you take us there?"
"Us?" I asked cautiously. "Your wife, too?"
"She will go where I go."
"It's our project, Mr. Kardec," Helen Lacklan said. She stretched out a long, firm hand to show me the ring on her finger. An empty setting stared up at me like a blind eye. "John gave me this ring five years ago. We're going to find the stone together."
It was a wonderful, romantic notion but far easier said than done.
"You know your business best," I said carefully, "but that's no country for a woman. It's jungle, it's miserably hot, and there are natives up there who have never seen a white man, let alone a white woman. Some of them can't be trusted."
I was thinking of one nefarious old codger in particular.
"We'll be armed." His manner was brusque and I could see his mind was made up. I suddenly had a vision that both amused me and made me very nervous: John Lacklan as Henry Stanley blasting his way through the forests of central Africa. His chin was thrust out in a way that told me he was primed for an argument ... I knew to never come between a man and his weapons, especially when he's a client. I turned to her.
"I don't want to offend you, Mrs. Lacklan, but it is very rough country, bad enough for men alone, and
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