Within the Dead Space

by Hutchens, Gary

  In a whispered voice they heard him speaking…..

  “The guard’s not looking and I can see a club lying over there. I don’t see anyone else in the room. I can kill him.”

  Pusca jumped to his feet, startling the audience, and in one movement grabbed the imaginary club from the floor and silently rushed across the stage toward the guard.

  Crush, thud, thud, the club bashed the guard’s head. Death was on his hands. He had avenged his mother’s death.

  “Get him!” screamed another guard at the end of the hall. All the guards in the hallway came rushing toward Pusca.

  “What do I do? Where do I go?”

  He leaped on the window ledge and without a moment’s hesitation jumped the two stories into the courtyard below, landing with a rolling motion. He looked around the courtyard.

  What the audience saw was Pusca climb a 30 foot stage wall in seconds and then jump back to the stage floor in a rolling motion.

  “There’s no way out.”

  Pusca ran back into the building and hid behind a curtain in the main hallway. (Pusca hid behind one of the curtains on the stage.) “What’s that down the hallway?”

  Several guards ran by as he hid there.

  Pusca waited for his chance and ran part way down the hall and stopped suddenly. He looked closely and detected the shadow. Pusca twisted his body and climbed into the dead space.

  Before the audience’s very eyes and in the middle of the stage Pusca disappeared.

  “What did he say?” someone asked loudly in the lecture hall.

  “Where is he?” another hollered out.

  “He said ‘dead space’,” someone else answered.

  Another asked, “Dead space, what is that?”

  The low rumble of everyone talking about dead space filled the hall.

  “Get in here!” screamed Pusca in the voice of the Captain of the Guard.

  The lecture hall fell silent.

  Chapter 28

  Pusca waited another half hour before carefully venturing out of the dead space where he had been hiding in the administrative building in Cajamarca, [Cajamarca, Peru in 1532]. There was no one in sight. He grabbed a dagger from a nearby table, rushed to the main door and looked out in the garden. No one was there. He ran through the garden and fled to the coast where the gold was to be shipped. Earlier he had heard one of the guards say the gold and silver would be shipped back to Spain very soon. Pusca felt the only way of saving his father was to steal the gold and demand his father’s release.

  Pusca hid in the shadows and crept as close as he could to the docks. He could see Spanish soldiers loading the trunks with the gold and silver. He sneaked closer. In a brief moment he saw his chance and ran to a partially filled trunk. He climbed in, pulled the blanket over him and lay there quietly.

  “Lock them up,” screamed the ship foreman, Pusca yelled from the stage. He had suddenly reappeared on the Harvard Auditorium stage from the dead space.

  The crowd in the lecture hall jumped in their seats. The audience had been hearing his voice but hadn’t been able to see him.

  Pusca could hear men around him and didn’t move. He didn’t realized they were going to lock the trunks. He had to make a break for it.

  Slam, Chaco screamed from the stage.

  The trunk lid closed and Pusca could hear the banging noise of the lock being placed through the metal loop.

  Clank! The trunk was locked. Pusca didn’t know what to do. In a scared whisper he said, “Inti, I need you.”

  The trunk was lifted by several strong men and carried into the far depths of the ship. Hour after hour Pusca worked on the lid with the dagger he had brought with him, trying to free himself. He carefully remained quiet when he heard more trunks being loaded nearby. The gold and silver alone that Atahualpa had gathered weighed thousands of pounds by itself and most likely they had stolen many times more than this from the other cities. The loading finally ended and everything went quiet.

  Pusca unexpectedly felt the sway of the ship. “We’ve put to sea.” Moments later he yelled, “Let me out!”

  Everyone in the lecture hall was startled by the scream.

  Many days passed as Pusca struggled in the trunk. A point was reached when a panic attack overwhelmed him and he violently flailed out at the trunk lid for several minutes. He lay in the trunk exhausted afterward until his strength returned. Carefully he felt the lid of the trunk and discovered there was a wide crack across the top. He reached his right arm through the opening and pushed his body upward until his head was out. His ribs felt like they were being crushed but he kept pushing. Pusca slid the rest of his body through the opening and he was free.

  “Yes,” several people in the hall yelled out with joy.

  Pusca walked around the dark room, never having felt so relieved in his life. He could make out the silhouetted cargo in the room. He counted sixty-three trunks like the one he was in. If he wasn’t mistaken, most of them contained gold items or coins. The silver items were in larger crates. He couldn’t see any of those in the room.

  Chaco’s voice took over as he calculated what the gold would be worth in today’s world. Let’s see now, there is about four hundred pounds of gold in each trunk. I remember reading that gold is selling for 560 dollars per ounce. That would be about 9,000 dollars per pound times four hundred pounds equals 3,600,000 dollars, times 63 trunks equals…..WOW…..that’s over two hundred million dollars! And many of those antique gold pieces are far more valuable than the pure gold itself.

  Abruptly Chaco’s voice faded and Pusca returned and said, “If I can figure out some way to take this gold from them, I can save my father, Atahualpa”

  Chapter 29

  Pusca had lost all sense of time. He had to find food and water. There was only one door into the cargo hold. He ran his hands over the door. It was a gigantic door built with heavily reinforced metal braces. No one was going to break the door down and only the captain would have a key.

  Pusca put his eye to a slit of light coming from the outside. He could see a walkway leading to some stairs where more light could be seen.

  The hours dragged on until he heard it, the clanking of boots on the stairs. He watched a man coming down the stairway through the peep hole, but he went somewhere else.

  “No, no, come back,” Pusca cried out under his breath.

  A few minutes later he heard the man coming back down the hall. Without thinking Pusca cried out, caaaah, caaah. As a child he had learned how to do bird calls.

  The man stopped in his tracks.

  Pusca cried out again, caaaah, caaah, in an ear shattering cry.

  Some individuals in the auditorium looked toward the ceiling for the crow that must be there.

  The man ran down the hall and put his ear to the door.

  Pusca put his hands to his mouth in a funnel position, leaned his head back and gave the best caaaah, caaah, he had ever given.

  “There’s a damn crow in there!” exclaimed the man who then clamored up the stairs.

  Now what? My only chance is to slip out the door when they come back. How can I get them to go to the other side of the room?

  It wasn’t long before Pusca heard the sound of several boots coming down the stairs. He hid himself behind one of the trunks near the door.

  “I don’t hear anything you damn fool. I’ll have you lashed and tied to the yardarm till your rotted body is picked clean by the vultures.”

  “But Cap, I heard it, I tell you. Just listen, I’m sure there’s a crow in there.”

  Caaaah, caaah.

  “You lucky piece of crap Sergio, I was looking forward to getting rid of your ugly mug once and for all.”

  Many in the hall started laughing.

  Pusca could hear the clanking of multiple keys against themselves.

  “Open the door,” demanded the captain, “and be quick about it.”

  Pusca hadn’t determined just how many men were standing at the door but it didn’t matter, he ha
d to get them across the room.

  Creeeeaaaa, Chaco did a perfect rendition of a gigantic door being pushed open for the audience.

  “Light some lanterns.” Three men followed the captain through the door.

  Pusca scrunched down even further into his hiding place.

  “I don’t hear anything in here.” The captain grabbed the lantern and held it high in the air looking toward the ceiling of the room. “He’s probably perched up there somewhere.”

  Clank, bang, bang, Pusca had thrown an old lantern across the room.

  In a startling instant four pistols were drawn. “What was that?”

  “That crow must have been hiding over there and knocked something over. Spread out men and we’ll trap him. I know right where he is,” said the captain. They slowly moved forward with each man carrying his own lantern.

  Pusca, like a mouse inched out the door and cautiously climbed the stairs.

  The captain and his men kept searching for the crow a few minutes longer.

  “I think he got away, Cap. Somehow he got by us. That was one smart crow,” said the deck hand.

  “You’re probably right. What’s this?” The captain was staring at a mangled trunk. He got closer, “God it smells in there and the trunk is only two thirds full.”

  The other men moved closer.

  “What do you think happened here, Captain?”

  The captain stroked his beard for a second and then replied. “I would say that whoever loaded this trunk dropped it and it landed on its lid and shattered. There will be an investigation on this to be sure that all of the gold is still here. I’ll hang the whole crew if they took my gold. Now the smell is another thing. This trunk must have been full of rats. Get some more men and haul this trunk up top. I want the trunk cleaned out, now.”

  The men jumped to.

  “Get the carpenter to build a new lid for this and I want Hernandez to meet me on deck with the manifest.”

  The captain waited until the trunk was moved from the room and then locked the vault. He stayed with the trunk and its contents until every piece of gold had been accounted for by Hernandez.

  “I would hate to hang my crew, but I would have, mark my words. I would sail this ship all the way to Spain on my own. Nobody steals my gold.”

  The crew returned the repaired trunk to the hold, the door was locked and everything was back to normal.

  Chapter 30

  It was as if Chaco came out of a trance. His voice became more normal and then he said, “Everything I have said is true. Nobody can dispute the facts because this true life event is recorded in Inca history. Historians say that Inca history was never written down and I will dispute this. Inca’s never recorded their information down on paper or in journals. They did use quipus for storing and transmitting information but the real truth is the Inca developed a form of memory storage that supersedes even what is in use today. They used captured light waves to store their information. Even when the Spanish conquered their empire, the information was right there in front of them, but luckily for the Inca, the Spanish greed overwhelmed their intelligence. There was a central location in the Inca Empire where all historical information was retained. It has never been found and even if it is, current man cannot unlock its secrets. They can’t even figure out the quipus.”

  If you would like, I can continue with the history of Pusca, son of Atahualpa, who was the Sapa Inca.

  “Yes,” several people in the hall responded.

  “First, I need a short break, and then I will continue.”

  A clamor of discussions broke out across the room. Many kept asking how he could know this information. What is his source? Others discussed storing information on light waves and what in the world is dead space?

  Chaco got a drink of water and rested for a few minutes and then returned to the podium. He instantly reverted back as Pusca and continued…..

  Pusca climbed the ship steps, fearful with every step that he would be discovered. He covered his eyes and could barely see as he peered out onto the deck of the humongous ship. The light was painful to his eyes. He stayed on the stairway as long as he dared waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light.

  He heard sounds approaching from below and knew he had to do something. Pusca stayed in the shadows and crept along an inside wall so those above couldn’t see him and came to another set of stairs. He had no choice and followed the stairs to another passageway. He entered the nearest door and was shocked to find himself in the captain’s quarters. Pusca stumbled over himself getting to the food and water on the table. He quickly ate and examined the room. On the end of the table were several documents.

  Pusca had learned to read Spanish earlier and read one document that said they were on their way to Acapulco to complete their load before continuing on to Veracruz for transshipment with the fleet to Spain.

  Pusca searched the captain’s quarters and the other rooms nearby and found several hiding places. He stole food and water over the course of many days and with the grace of Inti was not discovered.

  One day the ship came alive, they were landing in Acapulco later in the day. The men were beside themselves with excitement because most of them were going ashore. Pusca remained hidden and watched endless trunks and crates being brought aboard.

  Could this be more gold and silver? Is it never enough, he wondered?

  Four days later the cargo was loaded and the captain and his crew returned. They would sail on the high tide in the morning. That night Pusca heard a very private conversation with the Mayor of Acapulco and Captain Doredo from his hiding place in the captain’s quarters. The captain informed the mayor that Pizarro planned to kill Atahualpa when the time was right. He never had any intention of releasing him. Pusca would have killed both men that evening if it would have done any good.

  Next he heard their discussions about the cargo on the ship. Apparently the manifests had been altered and the gold and silver on board existed no more. A prominent Spanish nobleman was involved and they would all be rich beyond their wildest dreams. Captain Doredo was to set sail for Veracruz in the morning. Two of his crewmen would have to be killed because of their knowledge of the original manifests.

  “The trip is long, and it is hard to say just what might happen to those two unfortunate men,” the captain and the mayor laughed as they shared a bottle together.

  The Santa Cortina sailed the next morning and was a few hundred knots out of port when the first heavy gusts of winds caught them from the south. The weather hardened over the next couple hours but the captain wasn’t concerned. He considered himself the best captain in the fleet and could manage any weather. As the velocity of the gale force winds increased, the ability to go back to Acapulco was gone. A decision had to be made.

  “Full sails, gentlemen, we are going to have to out run her.”

  By morning the winds were a consistent fifty knots and the ability to avoid the storm was gone. No one knew that a hurricane was paralleling the coast of Mexico and was moving toward them at twenty knots per hour. Instead of sailing south around the cape to Veracruz, they were now sailing northward. The storm had caught the Santa Cortina with her pants down and the only decision available now was to ride her out.

  During the hurricane Captain Doredo was leaving the helm for his quarters when a gust of wind jolted the ship and threw him down the stairs. He hit his head and died later the next day. His second-in-command had no experience and had been chosen for that exact reason. This plot to steal the gold had been brewing for two years and the second-in-command was one of the two to be killed.

  The seasoned sailors were the only thing keeping the ship afloat. Erratic winds blew the ship northward until finally reaching the waters of San Diego Bay. It had been hell on earth on the ship. Many men had died during the hurricane and the ship was in shambles. The four masts had been destroyed when the hurricane had hit them. Many of the men had died of the bloody flux and the sweats. Their bodies were thrown overboard. The remai
ning twelve men plus Pusca were all that was left.

  They were able to bring the ship to rest in a protected cove in San Diego Bay. One officer remained and he was murdered the first night by the remaining men. The men had decided that they would split the gold and silver amongst themselves.

  For weeks they toiled removing the treasures to shore. It was a slow and tedious affair and several men were injured but their greed pushed them to super human feats. They had found a cave not too far inland and the treasure was hidden there.

  The ship continued to deteriorate and soon began to take on water. With the treasure on shore the men deserted the Santa Cortina to the depths of the sea. They had shattered several timbers below water to help her sink quickly and then abandoned the ship.

  Pusca waited till night with the ship on its last moment of life before he grabbed hold of an old cedar chest that was floating on the sea and was able to drift to shore. He followed the trail that the sailors had carved in the dirt to the cave. With time and patience on his side he waited.

  Pusca watched the men kill each other one at a time until only three were left. They were friends and had conspired to kill the rest and share in the gold and silver. They celebrated by opening several bottles of liquor and drank themselves into a stupor.

  Pusca took a knife from one of the men’s belts and slit their throats while they slept. Chaco with a smile on his face imitated a gesture with his hand showing the men’s throats being slit.

  Over the next several weeks he worked judiciously creating a hidden security door for the treasure. It was a door that the Inca had created for hiding their treasures from the Spanish. It was based on pressurized air that was heated by the sun and would reflect light in a manner that made the entrance invisible. Pusca secured the door and then began walking back to Peru and his family.