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  “The arrangement has been cleared by the Interior Ministry.”

  Janaina’s confusion boiled into fury as she put the pieces together. Transworld had bribed someone to okay this ridiculous setup. Katsoros had asked for Maria because Katsoros knew the older woman would welcome such a cushy gig. No company would go to all that effort unless it wanted to keep something secret. Janaina stood up.

  “I don’t know who would be saying that arrangement would be acceptable, but it is not. I will accompany your team into the Amazon.”

  Katsoros opened a folder on her desk and looked at the first page. “No you won’t. I can hire someone else who will find the arrangement not only acceptable, but preferable.”

  Janaina whipped out her phone and called up a recent news article. She put her phone down over the paper Katsoros was reading. “Do you remember this?”

  Katsoros slid the phone closer. The article was about how timber company Empresa de Madeiras Cruz do Sul had carved a logging road into some protected land. Protesters had ringed the headquarters. Builders promised to boycott the company’s timber. The stock price dropped. The company backed down.

  “Yes, I saw that last year.”

  Janaina yanked back her phone. “How would you like for Transworld Union to get that treatment this year? Except that was a local company. Your bad press would be international. I will not let you be compromising native peoples, and then cover it up.”

  Katsoros’s eyes narrowed in anger. Then her face relaxed into an artificial smile. “There’s no need for all this hostility. We just thought it would be easier on you to remain back as a consultant. There’s plenty of room on the transport if you would rather go into the field.”

  “I most certainly will.”

  “We leave at dawn from Virocopos Airport.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  Virocopos was outside Campinas, a hundred kilometers of gridlocked São Paulo traffic away. Janaina didn’t have a car. She hadn’t packed, wasn’t even certain she had what she needed to pack for such a trip.

  “If that’s not enough notice, I completely understand.” Katsoros turned back to the folder on the desk.

  “Oh, no. It is no problem. I’ll be there.”

  “Then I guess I’ll see you in the morning. Hangar Three.”

  Janaina was so furious she stomped out of Katsoros’ office. All the way down in the elevator she fumed about Katsoros’s arrogance and Transworld’s obvious deceit. Only when the elevator approached the ground floor did she comprehend the scared looks on the faces of everyone else in the car. She realized she must look the way she felt—ready for a fight.

  And Katsoros was going to get one. No native people were going to be sacrificed for Transworld Union.

  ***

  Katsoros watched the security feed and saw Janaina leave the building. She picked up the phone and dialed three numbers.

  “We have a complication. A replacement for Mariel Castro demands to go into the field.”

  “That increases the risk of our secrets going public,” a deep voice responded.

  “I’ll make certain that it doesn’t. Amazonia can be dangerous. People die out there all the time.”

  Monsters In The Clouds is available from Amazon here!