by Nick Thacker
Julie didn’t wave back. Instead, she jumped forward and down off the rock platform, her feet eventually finding the unstable jungle floor that sloped up below the ledge. She slid the rest of the way to the ground, barely stopping to catch her breath.
The same walk that had taken Ben’s group about fifteen minutes had taken Julie less than thirty seconds.
Ben knew what that meant, too. She’s the one they’re shooting at. She’s running from them.
His joy at her appearance was soon replaced, yet again, by fear, anger, and the slow, smoldering feeling of revenge. He shouted out to her again, but she was intently focused on getting across the river.
“Julie! Wait! There are —“
He knew she could hear him, but as he tried to shout his warning to her about the deadly predators lurking just below the surface of the water, he felt Reggie tugging on his shoulder.
“Ben, stop. Look.”
Reggie pointed up at the ledge, and Ben’s eyes followed him there. The ledge, he now realized, was probably the only entrance to the valley they were in. The natural form of the landscape, coupled with the density of the jungle they were in, did not allow any access to this place besides entering through the same tree pillars they’d found. The doorway into their little valley.
And that doorway was not empty.
Ben could see the younger mercenary — the one he recognized from the video at NARATech — looking down into the valley. His rifle was slung over his shoulder, but he held a pistol in his right hand. Ben could almost feel his eyes on him, staring. Ben clenched his jaw and started forward.
Again, Reggie held him back.
“Those shots were from assault rifles,” Reggie said. “And he’s not using one.”
Ben listened for a moment and heard the popping sounds of gunfire still ringing out in the distance. The trees dampened the sound a bit, but the noise was crisp enough to carry easily into the valley.
“What are you saying?” Ben asked.
“He’s not the one shooting at Julie, and I don’t think he’s trying to catch her. I think they’re all running from the mercenaries.”
Ben frowned when Reggie mentioned ‘all’ of them, but he continued to watch the platform and realized what Reggie meant. Behind the man standing on the ledge, he saw a splash of blond hair. Amanda.
“Dr. Meron’s up there with him,” Reggie said.
The man didn’t wait for Amanda to catch her breath. He jumped forward just like Julie had, sliding down the ramp of twisted, rotting jungle flora and out onto the wide riverbank. Amanda followed. She botched the landing, but the man reached down and helped her to her feet.
“He’s helping her,” Ben said. He felt silly for not being able to do anything from their location, only offering commentary from afar.
When Amanda had recovered, the man stepped into the river and started across. Ben lifted his pistol and checked it, then held it out in front of him. He aimed toward the man, but knew it would be at least another minute before he was within range.
Julie neared the middle of the river, and Ben dropped the gun. He wanted to tell her to turn back, to wait on the other side of the river. But the man was following her, only a few paces behind, and there was still someone shooting at them on the other side of the river.
He forced himself to ignore the knowledge of what might be in the river, waiting for another victim, and he lifted the gun back up. He turned, expecting to see Reggie mirroring his action. Instead, Reggie was calmly staring off toward the river, as if nothing was wrong.
“What are you doing?” Ben asked.
“Something doesn’t add up,” he said. “I’m waiting.”
“For what?”
At first Reggie didn’t answer, but then he motioned with a quick flick of his neck at the ledge once more. Ben, again, looked up to see. He hadn’t heard the gunshots in about a minute, and the reason why was standing in the doorway to the valley.
The mercenaries.
He could only fully see the two men standing next to one another out in front, but he could make out the shapes of at least six more men standing in lines behind them. The two men in front were staring down into the valley, just like Julie and the other man had done, assessing their options.
Ben tried to imagine their thoughts.
Shoot them from here, or move down to the river?
He strode forward, nearing the edge of the water. Come down here, he thought. Let’s make it a fair fight.
Julie was across the river, and Ben was so focused on the mercenaries he almost didn’t realize she was calling out to him.
“Ben!” she yelled again. He turned, surprised, and nearly fell backwards when she leapt into his arms, embracing him.
She was crying, but smiling. He pulled her in close and rested her head on his shoulder as he squeezed. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, you?”
“I’m alive, but I’m ready to be out of this jungle. That cruise sounds pretty good right about now.”
Julie laughed, but Reggie was there to interrupt their rendezvous. “Time to go, lovebirds. We’ve got company.”
Ben looked over to see that the man behind Julie had indeed made it across the river. Amanda was close behind him, and Archie and Paulinho were already preparing to wade out to help her. Reggie and Ben lifted their pistols and aimed at the man.
“Don’t shoot, Ben,” Julie said. “He’s here to help.”
Ben was visibly caught off guard but he didn’t lower the gun.
“It’s okay,” the man said. “Julie’s right.
Reggie took a few steps forward, still aiming at the man’s chest. To his credit, the man in the river had his arms in the air, his rifle still slung over his shoulder and his pistol in a hip holster. Ben realized then what the man’s strategy was. By wading through the river with Julie in front of him, Ben’s group wouldn’t shoot at him. With Amanda behind, the mercenaries wouldn’t either. As long as it stayed that way, neither firing squad could harm the man.
It seemed as though the mercenaries had decided to take the safer way down, as they had disappeared from the platform back into the woods. Ben knew they were only a few minutes from emerging again on the other side of the river, and by then they’d be in shooting distance. He squinted in the sunlight, watching the three bodies progress across the river.
The leader of the mercenaries was about to walk into their camp, and Ben wasn’t sure what they would do when he did.
55
THE MEN FROM JULIE’S AND Amanda’s group were waiting for him on the other side of the river. Julie had already reached Bennett, and Joshua saw them embrace for a moment on the shore. He felt a quick pang of regret, a feeling he wasn’t entirely comfortable with, as he watched. He slowly raised his arms in the air to show his surrender.
“She’s not lying,” Joshua said again. “But we don’t have a lot of time. They’re coming down here, and they’re not going to —“
“You led them down here,” Ben said.
“Perhaps, but they would have found you anyway. I’m no tracker, but you leave a pretty obvious trail.”
Joshua had made it almost to the edge of the river and he now felt the ground beneath him sloping upward. The slope continued past the waterline and into the dense jungle behind it, moving toward the bottom of a sharp cliff just beyond. He eyed the unique feature. A cliff was out of context here, in a generally flat basin like the Amazon. There were no mountains, no rocky outcrops, and certainly no cliffs.
Generally.
Like many other places he’d been in the world, surprises lurked everywhere. He should have expected he’d find something like this out here in the most remote section of the planet. The cliff wasn’t particularly tall, either, which made it seem almost justifiable — it wouldn’t be easily spotted by satellite reconnaissance, and the entire cliff structure was sunken into a larger, bowl-like valley that they were all now standing in.
The group was all staring at him as he made his way up t
he last few feet of the natural embankment. Two of the other men from the group had waded out to retrieve Dr. Meron, who was barely able to stand on her own. They’d hurried back with Amanda and all three were now exiting the river about ten feet upstream from him. He looked from one person to another, finally landing on the one standing a few steps behind the others, his head down.
Rhett.
Joshua felt all the rage he’d ever felt toward the back-stabbing, lying man he shamefully knew as his younger brother. He focused the feelings into his eyes, waiting for him to look up. When he didn’t, Joshua charged forward.
“You lying piece of —“
Another man suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his way. Joshua recognized the man who had joined the group back at the hotel, the one wearing the permanent grin on his face.
“Good to meet you,” the man said, completely oblivious of Joshua’s irate attitude. “Name’s Reggie, and this —“
“Later, Reggie,” Joshua said, trying to push his way past the man.
Reggie didn’t budge. “Listen. We’ve got some questions for you, before you —“
“He’s my brother.”
All eyes, including Rhett’s, snapped up to Joshua. Reggie took a step back, clearly confused. Ben was frowning. Joshua waited, trying to let the tension dissipate a bit from the situation, but the knowledge of the soldiers, his soldiers, somewhere directly behind them gave him a sense of urgency.
“We don’t have time, like I said. We need to move, get to the city.”
“Why are you here?” Reggie asked.
Joshua nodded. “Right, I apologize. I was — obviously — with the other group. We tracked you, trying to locate and acquire Dr. Meron and her research. Anything that might lead us to the city of El Dorado.”
Reggie stared on, his face expressionless, while Joshua continued.
“I work for a company that is interested in acquiring whatever it is that’s hidden in the city.” He glanced over at Harvey Bennett, to make sure he was paying attention. “They think Dr. Meron’s research and the city might be connected somehow, considering the speed and secrecy you all left with.”
Ben stepped closer to Joshua. “What can you tell us about this company? And what made you change your mind and suddenly want to help us out?”
Joshua caught the sarcasm in the man’s question, but he ignored it. “I’m telling you the truth, Ben. The company I work for will do anything to achieve their goals, including killing anyone — anyone — who gets in their way.”
“We figured that out.”
“Right. Well I think I became one of those people.”
Reggie’s face hadn’t changed, but he finally spoke. “And this kid here’s your brother?”
Joshua nodded. “My father works for the company, and he apparently sent me out here to find you all. I was just following his orders, but now I’m starting to doubt they even came from him.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because he never would have allowed him out here. He’s untrained, untested, and you can’t trust —“
Rhett, his hands still tied, suddenly ran forward and dove headfirst into Reggie. Reggie stumbled but didn’t fall, but as he turned to fight off the attacker, Rhett pushed off of him and back onto higher ground.
Joshua reached for his own weapon, but Ben was advancing toward him. He considered his options, but his younger brother was already in motion.
Rhett looked as though he was in severe physical pain — and judging by the bruises and cuts on his face, Joshua assumed that was true. He had his arms outstretched, his hands the only part of his body not shaking.
Extending outward from one of his fists was Reggie’s pistol, pointed directly at Reggie’s head, only feet away from him.
“Okay,” Rhett said. “It’s time to get back to the others.”
Joshua was furious, but he couldn’t move. He knew Rhett would, without a doubt, shoot the man he was threatening. Any wrong movement or word would set him off.
“Rhett…” Joshua spoke calmly, hoping to ease his brother’s anger and get him talking.
“Save it,” Rhett said, blood and spittle flying out of his mouth. “You heard what I said. Now move!”
Ben was standing next to Joshua now, their shoulders nearly touching. Joshua kept his face straight forward but moved his eyes to better see the man standing next to him. He noticed that Ben didn’t have his weapon up.
It would only be a half second, but it might be enough…
“I’m only going to ask this one more time,” Rhett said, “and then your friend —“
Joshua, with a singular, fluid motion, pulled his own pistol upwards and toward Rhett. He had to carry his arm even higher than normal, as Rhett was standing on a section of ground a few feet higher than the rest of them, literally taking the higher ground as an advantage.
He felt, more than saw, Ben lifting his weapon up in reaction to his movement, but it was too late.
He fired twice, aiming for Rhett’s chest.
56
SHE’D STARTED RUNNING AS SOON as she saw Joshua’s gun raise. Aiming for Amanda, she realized that her trajectory would cross paths with another one — that of the bullets Joshua was now starting to fire.
Redirecting after the first two shots sounded, she found herself running toward Ben. He was standing safely out of the line of fire, but he too had his gun lifted, preparing to shoot.
“Ben! No!” she yelled, nearly tackling him as she collided with him near the water line.
Ben turned around as he was pushed sideways, a surprised look on his face. “Julie?”
“Don’t shoot him,” she said again, breathless. “He’s on our side.”
Ben looked from Joshua, to Julie, then toward Rhett. “H — how do you know?”
Rhett grunted, blood already pooling on his chest even as he stood, trembling, on the higher ground above them all. He tried to take a single step backwards but his foot never landed properly. He toppled, falling sideways and crumpling down to the ground. He coughed twice, blood spattering from his mouth and soiling the white, flat rocks that lay nearby.
Julie stared at the droplets of blood, her eyes transfixed. What is happening? She felt out of control, trying to rein in Ben while convincing him and the others of Joshua’s innocence, but then — for some reason — he’d shot his own brother.
“Julie?”
She looked up. Ben was staring at her, but he wasn’t alone. All of the group, besides the dying Rhett, were looking at her. Waiting. Ben and Reggie were both aiming pistols at Joshua’s head. Joshua had dropped his own weapons, including his rifle, onto the beach and was now standing with his arms high above his head. He looked completely calm, even relieved, as if his own mission was finally over.
“No — I…” she wasn’t sure what to say. “Don’t kill him. I believe him.”
No one spoke. Joshua’s eyes fell on Julie, and he gave her a slight nod.
“Julie, what did he tell you?” Reggie asked.
“He already explained it. His men are loyal to the company they work for more than they’re loyal to him. They’re here for a paycheck, but he thinks the company double-crossed him.”
“What company?” Ben asked.
“The company you’ve been searching for,” she said. “Drache Global. Or Dragonstone, or Drage Medisinsk. They’re all the same thing.”
“Or Draconis Industries,” Joshua said. They all looked at him. “It’s the actual name of the company I work for. All the others are subsidiaries. Related, but not necessarily the same. Some are pharmaceuticals, some are research, some are computers and electronics. But my company has an interest in all of them, enough to have bought them out completely.”
“They’re all different languages for ‘dragon,’” Archie said.
Joshua nodded. “It’s a ‘hidden in plain sight’ thing,” he said. “They think no one will suspect them, as most of their business is completely legitimate R&D.”
“But th
ey’re a terrorist organization.”
“No, far from it,” he said. “They’re just not afraid of destroying anything that gets in their way. They have unbelievable power, and just about an unlimited pool of resources. What keeps them out of scrutiny is that they keep things in one hand hidden from the other. And many of the countries they operate in are eating out of one of those hands anyway.”
“What’s in it for you?” Reggie asked. “Why tell us all this? A day ago you were shooting at us.”
Joshua looked over at Amanda. She was leaning on Paulinho, who had his hand on his head, massaging his temples. “My team was ordered to bring Dr. Meron back, after finding the lost city of El Dorado and eliminating the rest of you. But I started to suspect that my father — the one I thought I was receiving communication from — was no longer in the picture, and that the Company had been using me. He never would have sent my brother out here.”
Julie shook her head. “But that’s what doesn’t make sense to me,” she said. “Why kill him? He’s your brother.”
Joshua clenched his teeth. “It had to be done. There was no way around it, and it was only a matter of time. He’s been a thorn in our side for years, and there’s no doubt he was the main reason the company was able to feed information to us about your location.”
“Wait, what?” Ben asked. He still held the pistol in his hand, but his grip faltered a bit. Julie saw the gun dip slightly. “How did they know where we were? And for how long?”
Joshua stepped forward, and Ben brought the gun up, gripping it tighter once more. “How did he get that wound?” Joshua asked. He pointed to his brother’s side.
“The knife wound?” Archie said. “He said you did that. Your team, at least. We found him in a house, and then he flew us to Manaus.”
Joshua frowned. “No, we had no idea he was out here until Julie mentioned it. I was able to check in with the Company up until we entered the jungle outside of Manaus, and they just filled me in on your general location.”
“Then how —“
“Give me a second,” Joshua said, interrupting. He bent down to his dead younger brother, ripped open his shirt, and peered down at the knife wound. It had begun to heal, but there was still a purplish-black area surrounding the wound itself.
