by R. D. Brady
He’d known Danny for four years. The boy was technically Chandler’s top analyst at the ripe old age of thirteen. His IQ was off the charts. In the time Jake had known him, Danny had almost always had his eyes focused on some electronic device or other. He'd rarely seen him act like a child.
Henry had taken Danny in when he was only nine, acting as a surrogate father to the boy, but Danny still remained pretty closed off. An unfortunate side effect to an abusive father.
A background Jake was all too familiar with. “I never thought of Danny as a pet person.”
“Me neither," Henry said. "But Laney did. Moxy – that’s what she named him – has been Danny’s constant companion since they met.”
A shout from the lawn made Henry pause. They both turn to watch Moxy tear off with Danny’s sneaker in her mouth.
Henry's face was full of wonder. “That little dog has made Danny a kid. Somehow Laney knew exactly what he needed.”
“She’s good at that,” Jake said.
Henry turned back to Jake. “Laney sent me an email earlier, asking if Danny and I wanted to join her in Ecuador in about two months. Kati, Max and Patrick are going as well.”
“The whole family together.”
“She asked if you’d be on assignment around then.”
Jake glanced up. “What’d you say?”
“I said I could clear your schedule so you could join us.”
Jake smiled. “I just might do that.”
A beeping sounded from somewhere around Danny. Jake didn’t pay it any mind. Danny always seemed to have some electronic alarm going off signaling something or other.
Jake half listened as Henry explained about some project Danny had developed. Something about nanobytes and an organic computer. He was lost after the first sentence or two. He let his mind wander and it drifted to its usual spot, Laney.
He sighed. Maybe he should just drown himself in work. When he’d been in Israel, he’d barely had time to think about her. There had to be some high-risk danger zone he could visit. Getting shot at tended to leave his mind little time to wander off into the world of 'what ifs'. Or maybe he should head down to Ecuador. Help her dig something up.
“Henry!”
Jake’s head jerked up at Danny’s voice. Fear laced that single word. Danny sprinted across the lawn towards them, Moxy right behind him.
Henry knelt down so he was eye-to-eye with the boy. “What’s wrong?”
Danny held up his phone. “It’s Laney. I think she’s in trouble.”
CHAPTER 14
Northeast of Cuenca, Ecuador
When Laney came to, her first thought was that her head hurt. The second was, why was the world moving?
She opened her eyes to find herself lying on her back in the old army truck. The canvas top was flapping as they bustled down the unpaved road, giving her the occasional glimpse of trees.
Her hands were bound in front of her with plastic zip ties, her head resting in someone’s lap. Her hair was being gently caressed back.
She looked up into Nana’s face. “Ah, you’re awake. We were worried.”
A wall of memories rushed her. Tears threatened to break. “Jen?”
“I’m here, Laney.”
Laney’s head whipped to the right. Pain lanced through her, making her groan.
Jen sat propped against the side of the truck. Elena was tucked into her side, fast asleep. The sleeve of Jen's shirt had been torn away and used to bandage her arm. A sling made from the other sleeve held it to her chest.
And apparently, the fact that she’d been shot didn't make their attackers think she was any less of a threat. Her hands were bound as well.
Laney drank in the sight of her, blinking her eyes to make sure that she was really there. “I thought you were –”
“I know. But I’m alive. He only got my arm.” Jen raised her bound hands with a wince. “A little worse off, but not as bad as it could have been. Thanks to you.”
Laney struggled to sit up. Nana put a surprisingly strong hand on her back and helped her. “How come we’re still alive?”
Jen grimaced. “Well, you know Warren the weasel is in on whatever this is. Apparently, he was supposed to keep us out of the way. Unsurprisingly, he failed at yet another task. Killing two Americans wouldn’t be as easily overlooked as killing non-Americans. They hadn’t expected to find us there. They thought it would be only indigenous people. We’re a little hiccup.”
Jen looked at Laney, her stare conveying a wealth of information. They might have been surprised to find them there, but she was sure they were working on how to resolve that issue. And Laney was sure it didn’t involve letting them go on to live a nice, long life.
“You’re some fighter, my friend. You should have seen those men’s faces.” Nana laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “They were terrified.”
“I should have killed the bastards,” Laney said.
“Yes. But, I’m sure you’ll have the chance again.” Nana nodded towards the truck behind them. “They’re in that truck there.”
Laney leaned against the side of the truck. Her head pounded with every bump of the road. “Where are they taking us?”
“The cave of the Etsu Nantu,” Nana said quietly.
Laney looked back at Nana, despair spreading across her chest. “Oh, Nana. You told them where it was?”
Anger flashed across Nana's face. “No. It was one of the men from my village. He’s weak, always causing trouble. I should have banished him years ago.”
“How does he know where it is?” Jen asked.
Nana shook her head and Laney could swear the woman wanted to spit.
“He's sneaky. He must have followed us one of the times we went to visit the Guardians. So he probably doesn’t know where the actual cave is, only where the Guardians are.” A troubled look crossed her face.
"The Guardians?" Laney asked.
“The other half of our tribe."
Laney stared at her, stunned. The Shuar had another half to their tribe? No one had ever mentioned them. The history books had never even whispered about them.
Nana continued. "The Guardians have been the protectors of the cave as long as we can recall. They have repelled all who have tried to seize its treasures. But this firepower...” She gestured to the front of the truck and the one that followed. “I don’t think they can defeat these men. I fear many more will be killed before the day is out.”
Laney nodded, knowing the natives would be no match for the armed men. And she also knew that if these men found the caves, tossing the bodies of two American women in would ensure they’d never be found. An easy resolution to an annoying hiccup.
CHAPTER 15
Baltimore, Maryland
Jake knelt down on the grass, to make himself eye level with Danny. He tried to keep the urgency out of his tone. “What do you mean, Danny?”
Danny's face paled. "I need my computer." He turned and sprinted into the house.
"Damn it." Jake tried to grab him.
Henry grabbed his arm. "Jake, it's Danny. Kid gloves, okay?"
Jake nodded before heading into the house. He ran through the dining room and sprinted up the three stories to Henry's office, which took up a full third of the top floor of Chandler headquarters.
As Jake strode into the room, Henry right behind him, his eyes searched for Danny. Looking past the wall of windows that overlooked the back lawn and the three walls of built-in bookcases, his eyes settled on the conference table on the opposite side of the room. Danny sat at his usual spot, his fingers moving feverishly over his tablet, his eyes laser-trained on the monitor.
"Dan-" He started.
"Give him a minute," Henry interrupted from behind him.
Jake checked himself, knowing Henry was right. In a few minutes, Danny could gather more information than a room full of analysts could manage in an hour.
He crossed the room to Danny, literally counting the seconds. At three minutes, his patience b
oiled over. He needed to know what was going on. "Danny, how do you know Laney's in trouble?"
Danny glanced up at Jake, then quickly ducked his head back down. “When Laney went to Ecuador, I set up a program that notifies me about any trouble near her.” He peeked up, looking like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. In fact, Moxy sat next to him, with just that look.
Jake forced a smile. “You’re not in trouble, Danny. I’m glad you set it up. Just tell us what you know.”
Moxy leaned into him and Danny seemed to gain strength from her presence. “It just came over the wire that there was an attack on a village in the mountains outside Cuenca. It’s the village Laney and Jen have been visiting.”
Henry took a seat in the chair next to Danny. His tone was gentle. “But that doesn’t mean they were there, Danny. They could still be in the town.”
Danny shook his head, tears cresting in his eyes. “No. I checked. She was there.” He began to cry and Henry pulled him into a hug.
“It’s okay,” Henry said, but his eyes were worried.
Jake forced himself to ratchet down his impatience. “How do you know she was there, Danny?"
Danny pushed away from Henry. He took a shuddering breath before speaking. “I put a tracker on her laptop before she left.”
Shock must have crossed Jake's face, because Danny’s words began to trip over themselves. “I know I shouldn’t have. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. That’s all.”
Jake shook his head with a smile. “I mean it, Danny. You’re not in trouble. In fact, I think it was pretty damn smart. I wish I’d thought of it. But even if there was trouble, it might not be that bad.”
Danny put his tablet down on the table. “No. It’s bad. I, um, I hacked into a satellite to get some pictures.”
“You re-routed a satellite?”
Danny gave him a surprised look. “Didn't have to. It was already passing over.”
Right, because re-routing would have been crazy. Thank God he's on our side.
“Here. It’s a live stream.” Danny turned the screen around for Jake and Henry to see.
Jake felt like the floor had dropped from underneath him. The village had been burned to the ground. The debris still smoldered and bodies littered the landscape. If Laney had been there . . .
Jake stood up. “Henry, I need to –“
Henry's voice was grim. “Whatever, you need, you have.”
CHAPTER 16
Outside Cuenca, Ecuador
Laney kept her voice low to not wake Elena. “I don’t understand why this all happening now.”
“The Shuar's connection to the treasure has been known for decades. So, what changed?" Jen asked.
Nana sighed, not speaking right away. When she did, her voice was filled with weariness. “It’s the oil companies. One of the blocs of land that they’re trying to buy holds the cave. That’s what I wanted tell you last night. The court ruled that if we demonstrate the sacredness of the land, we can keep it. But to do that, we would have to reveal the cave. And it has been our tribe’s job since its creation to protect it."
Laney nodded, knowing how seriously the Shuar took duty. It must not be an easy thing to have to choose between revealing the cave or potentially seeing its destruction.
"I had wanted to ask the two of you to document the cave for the court. You are the only ones I would trust with it. But we knew as soon as I asked you, the world 's knowledge of the cave would quickly follow. And some members of the tribe were hoping for another way out."
Laney thought of Henry and the resources of the Chandler Group. He would be able to help the Shuar protect it once the world became aware of its existence.
She glanced through the back of the truck. The other truck followed about twenty yards back. Of course, right now none of that mattered. They probably weren't going to live long enough to worry about the cave being uncovered.
"Can you tell us about the cave?" Jen asked.
Nana nodded, closing her eyes. "According to our history, we were entrusted with its contents by the Teachers. They weren’t our people. They came from another land.”
“When did they come?” Jen asked.
“Right before the great flood,” Nana said.
Laney looked at Nana in shock. No. That couldn’t be right. “There was a flood in Ecuador?”
Nana smiled “Not just here. Everywhere. The world flood.”
A look of shock crossed Jen's face and Laney was pretty sure her face held an identical one. All cultures across the globe speak of the great flood. And they each speak of a different way in which the knowledge of the people before the flood was saved.
In Hindu mythology, the Satapatha Brahmana tells the story of Manu, the savior of mankind, and the boat he used to save knowledge, seeds, and animals. The story of Manu is almost identical to the story of Noah, which is almost identical to the story of Gilgamesh. In fact, there are over six hundred flood myths across the globe.
Despite the similarity of the tales, scientists had argued for years that there had never been a cataclysmic world flood. The closest thing would have been the melting after the last ice age, which would have been a much more gradual process.
Yet recent research had indicated that cataclysmic flooding could indeed have occurred during the melting from the last ice age due to the creation of ice dams.
“That was at least twelve thousand years ago,” Jen said quietly, her voice conveying her awe.
Nana nodded, her thoughts seeming to be a million miles away. “I’m not sure of the exact time the Teachers came to us, but I do know we’re responsible for keeping their knowledge safe. I have known, though, that the time would come soon when the cave would have to be introduced to the world. The world is encroaching closer and closer.”
She looked back at Jen and Laney. “I’d decided you two would be the first outsiders shown the cave. I had hoped you could help us preserve what’s inside.”
Jen nodded. “We would have, Nana.”
“I know. But it’s too late for that now. I should have demanded the tribe allow me to tell you. But we have always been an equal society, even if . . .” She sighed. “We needed to all agree on the next course of action. Maybe, though, if I’d told you sooner, this could have been avoided.”
Laney shook her head. “I doubt that, Nana. These men are serious. I think if you told us sooner, this would have only happened sooner.”
Jen nodded. “Laney’s right, Nana. The only blame here belongs to the assholes responsible for this. But now we need to deal with what’s happening. Who are the Guardians you spoke of?”
“Farther back than any of us can remember, our tribe split in two. One group would stay attached to the world, to learn if there was danger to the cave. The other would stay with the cave as its protectors. We would meet twice every year to renew our bond to each other. I fear what will happen to them. ”
Nana glanced through the back of the truck, her voice gravely serious. “We’re getting close. You two must stay near me and Elena when we arrive.”
Minutes later, the truck slowed and came to a stop. Doors slammed.
Two men appeared at the tailgate. One raised his machine gun as the other opened it. “Out.”
Elena and Jen scooted out of the truck with Nana and Laney following behind them. Laney looked around, her hopes plummeting. They were in the middle of nowhere and there were at least thirty heavily armed men. How the hell were they going to get out of this?
Warren was nowhere to be seen. No doubt he’d gone for medical attention. But the Safari's-R-Us man appeared, his khakis beginning to look limp in the heat, with sweat rings around his neck and armpits.
Laney took a perverse satisfaction in his discomfort. He looked like the type used to air-conditioned lecture halls, not the rigors of the field.
He walked up to Nana, wiping his brow with a stained handkerchief. “Now, Lucia, where are these Guardians?”
Nana looked him straight in the eye. “All a
round us.”
The trees erupted with screams.
CHAPTER 17
Baltimore, Maryland
Jake paced along the wall of windows in Henry’s office. His mind was a scramble of horrific images, with Laney center stage.
Damn it. He hated standing around twiddling his thumbs, waiting for information. He already had equipment moving into place, but before he stormed into a foreign country, doors needed to be opened.
He glared at the image of the destroyed village frozen on a computer monitor. Little good diplomacy was going to do for those poor bastards.
Needing a distraction, he watched Danny at the conference table. Danny’s eyes were glued to his screen, his eyes flying over the keyboard. Danny had provided Laney the only protection he could, a computerized guardian angel. Jake could more than handle himself in the physical world, but Danny was the warrior in the electronic one.
Jake walked over to Henry as he disconnected his call.
Henry’s face was serious. “I just spoke with the U.S. Consulate. They already knew about the attack. An unknown group hit the village late last night and then followed the villagers to the church where the survivors had taken refuge.”
“Where were Laney and Jen?” Jake asked.
“They were camping down the hill from the village. They apparently rescued a young girl from the village who was about to be -” Henry paused with a quick glance at Danny. He lowered his voice. “abused. They took out three or four armed gunmen in the attempt.”
Jake felt the kernel of hope bloom. That’s my girl. “Where did they go after that?” Henry met his eyes. “The church.”
Jake’s stomach plummeted. “Are they all right?”
Henry looked away, his tone more guarded. Danny came to stand next to him. Henry reached down and pulled him close. “They tried to escape at the church, but were caught.”
