The Chamala Quest

     To those who study plants, the Chamala represents the Holy Grail.  Finding it would be the discovery of a lifetime—make that a dozen lifetimes.  It produces a berry with phytochemistry possessing the unique ability to hyperstimulate nerve cell reproduction.  It will be instrumental in the development of the next generation of biopharmaceuticals capable of curing blindness, deafness, dementia and paralysis.

     Famous botanist, Doctor Liberty Belle Corcoran, may have the inside track in the search for the Chamala plant.  While speaking at the Global Federation of Botanists’ annual symposium on the island of Mahé, she learns of its possible location from the mysterious Cheung brothers.  There is one small problem, however.  It grows somewhere in an unexplored mountainous region of West Papua, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea, and is closely guarded by a primitive tribe of cannibals who hold the Chamala berry sacred.  Libby will have to get past them if she is to succeed, and they plan to take the Chamala’s location and its secret with them to their graves, along with anyone who interferes.