Micro

“Moving along now,” Drake went on, speaking briskly, “you’ll notice a profusion of ferns. Prominently around us you see the big tree ferns, Cibotium and Sadleria, and lower down to the ground, the smaller Blechnum, Lycopodium, and of course-” he indicated the mountainside with a swipe of his hand-“up there, the uluhe ferns, which cover the mountain slopes over much of Hawaii.”

“You missed that uluhe fern right at your feet,” Rick Hutter broke in. “It’s called Dicranopteris, also known as false staghorn.”

“I believe so,” Vin Drake said, barely concealing a flash of irritation. He paused, and bent down on one knee. “The pe‘ahi ferns line this path, the larger ones are maku‘e ferns, which spiders like to live on. You will notice the large number of spiders here. Some twenty-three species, in all, are represented in this small area alone.” He stopped in a clearing, where trees opened into views of the mountainsides around the valley. He pointed up to a peak on a ridge overlooking the valley. “That peak is called Tantalus. It’s an extinct volcanic crater that looks down on this valley. We’ve been conducting research at Tantalus Crater, as well as here in the valley.”

Alyson Bender fell into step alongside Peter Jansen. “Did the police contact you today?” she said.

“No,” he said. “Why?”

“I wondered how you knew they were searching the boat…and the phone records.”

“Oh.” In truth, he had made that up. “Well. It was on the news.”

“Was it? I didn’t hear. What channel?”

“I don’t remember. Five, I think.”

Rick Hutter came over and said, “Really sorry, Peter. Really sorry, man.”

Jenny Linn had been walking close behind Vin Drake, and she said to him, “But I don’t understand your research program-like what you’re actually doing here in this forest.”

Drake smiled at her and said, “It’s because I haven’t explained it yet. In simple terms, we’re planning to collect samples from a cross-section of the Hawaiian ecosystem, from Tantalus Crater down into the Manoa Valley, where we’re standing.”

“Collect what kind of samples?” Rick Hutter said, hands on his hips. He was wearing the usual Rick outfit, jeans and an outdoor shirt, sleeves rolled up and now damp with sweat, looking as if he was on a bushwhack through deep jungle. He had the usual combative look on his face, too, his jaw set, eyes narrowed.

Drake smiled and answered, “Essentially we will collect samples from every species of living thing in this ecosystem.”

“What for?” Rick went on. He stared straight at Vin Drake.

Drake stared right back at Rick. A cold look. Then smiled. “A rain forest is the greatest repository of active chemical compounds in nature. We are standing in the middle of a gold mine full of potential new drugs. Drugs that could save uncounted human lives. Drugs worth uncounted billions of dollars. This forest, Mr., uh-”

“Hutter,” Rick said.

“This lush forest, Mr. Hutter, contains keys to the health and well-being of every person on this planet. And yet this forest has barely been explored. We have no idea what chemical compounds actually exist here, in the plants, in the animals, in the microscopic life-forms. This forest is terra incognita, absolutely unknown terrain. It’s as vast, as full of riches, and as unexplored as the New World was for Christopher Columbus. Our goal, Mr. Hutter, is simple. Our goal is drug discovery. We’re searching for new drugs on a vast scale beyond anything imagined. We have begun a total screening of this entire forest for bioactive compounds, from Tantalus to the bottom of this valley. The payoff will be huge.”

“ ‘The payoff,’ ” Rick echoed. “ ‘Gold mine.’ ‘New World.’ So it’s a gold rush you’re talking about, isn’t it, Mr. Drake? It’s all about money.”

“That’s much too crude,” Drake answered. “First and foremost, medicine is about saving lives. It’s about ending suffering and helping every person reach their human potential.” He switched his attention to the others, and began walking along the trail, getting himself away from Rick Hutter, who obviously annoyed him.

Rick, now standing with his arms folded, murmured to Karen King, “The guy is a modern Spanish conquistador. He’s looting this ecosystem for gold.”

Karen gave him a scornful look. “And just what are you doing with your natural extracts, Rick? You’re boiling the hell out of tree bark looking for new drugs. Why is that any different?”

“The difference,” he said to her, “is the huge sums of money involved. And you know where the money in all this is, right? It’s in patents. Nanigen will take out thousands of patents on the compounds they find here-and giant drug companies will exploit the patents, earning billions-”

“You’re just jealous ’cause you don’t have any patents.” Karen turned away from Rick, while Rick glared at her.

He called after her, “I’m not doing science to get rich. Unlike you, apparently…” He realized she was ignoring him. Pointedly.