Within the Dead Space

by Hutchens, Gary

  One thing they did know with certainty was that he was going back to New York City. All of his past contacts in New York were being tracked down.

  Dr. Ortiz left Durango the same day for New York City. He was sure that it was only time before he had Chaco in his grip.

  ***

  Chaco went to Maria’s home first. She was gone and the neighbors didn’t know where. He went to the Salvadorian restaurant next and was told she was working that evening. Chaco waited across the street in an old rundown building for Maria to come to work. She arrived at four in the afternoon moving very slowly.

  He didn’t notice four men sitting in a car down the street from the restaurant. The military had traced Chaco’s possible locations from information provided by Franco in Afghanistan. All they could do now was wait.

  Chaco ran across the street and caught Maria before she entered the restaurant.

  “Maria. Maria, its Chaco.”

  “Chaco,” she threw her arms around him. “I am so happy to see you and that you are safe. Thank you for saving Eduardo. My whole family will always be indebted to you.”

  Chaco couldn’t see the four men rushing toward him, but Maria could.

  “Chaco, do you know those men?”

  He turned to see the four men rapidly approaching.

  “No, but I have to go.”

  Chaco bolted past Maria into the restaurant. He ran through the restaurant and out the back door. He ran down the alley to the dead end and leaped high onto the wall in front of him. His hands caught the top of the wall and he was over and gone. The four men didn’t have a chance.

  Chaco had to see Maria before he left but it would have to be later.

  He had to get to the bank before it closed.

  Chapter 71

  Chaco hurried to his hiding place that he had discovered near the restaurant. He grabbed the backpack with the gold for the bank, leaving some behind for Maria. He had no idea what he would do next. The bank didn’t close for another sixty minutes so Chaco waited outside watching.

  At five-thirty he entered the bank through the front door with his hat pulled down tight on his head. He had bought a pair of reading glasses with extra-large lenses to try and camouflage his face. He was wearing a pair of Nike tennis shoes and jogging clothes he had bought at the Goodwill. He didn’t look like a fashion model but he thought he would fit in with what the kids in the neighborhood might be wearing.

  “Can I help you young man?” called a security guard before Chaco had gone ten feet into the bank.

  “I want to open a savings account, sir.”

  The ‘sir’ part surprised the guard enough to get Chaco in the line to open a new account.

  Chaco surveyed the room quickly. He noticed a sign on the wall that said, Open a Safe Deposit Account Today. He wondered what that might be.

  “May I help you?” the clerk at the desk asked Chaco.

  “Uhh, I want to open a safe deposit account I think. What is a safe deposit account?”

  The teller looked at him with an odd look and then described what it was.

  “That is what I want.”

  “What is your name?”

  “Franco.”

  “And your last name?”

  “Uhh, Ortiz.”

  “What is your address?”

  Chaco made up an address that was obviously false.

  “Do you have a phone number?”

  “Yes, 66213.”

  Nothing seemed right with this guy and the clerk flipped a switch under her desk to alert security. Chaco was now being watched on a security camera.

  A minute later another bank clerk wearing a suit came over to the desk where Chaco was sitting.

  “Miss Thompson, I’ll take over for now and you can go on your break.”

  “Let’s see here now, Mr. Franco Ortiz, and what was your address?” Chaco had already forgot what he had told the lady earlier but tried to remember. He was totally wrong.

  “Are you sure that you want to open a safe deposit account young man?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Chaco as he started to get up.

  Two large security guards came up behind Chaco.

  “Please remain seated young man. I only have a few questions for you and then you can go. This information that you have given us is not true and you have alerted our security because of it. I must ask that you remove your hat and glasses.”

  Chaco hesitated for a second and then started to reach into his backpack. One of the security guards jumped forward to grab the bag. Chaco was surprised and the guard almost got away with his backpack before Chaco jerked it back from him.

  “What’s going on here? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Please be calm young man and let the guard have your backpack.”

  “No I won’t.”

  It was at this moment that the guard watching Chaco in the video room alerted the police. A silent alarm had been sounded.

  “I want to see the manager.”

  “I am the manager.”

  “No you’re not. I want to see the manager,” Chaco demanded loudly, alarming many nearby customers in the bank.

  “Please be patient young man and the manager will be right with you.”

  Chaco sat back down. Now what do I do, thought Chaco. I’m in a real fix here.

  The manager walked up to the desk and behind him stood two policemen.

  Chaco was dwarfed by the two security guards, the two policemen, the manager and another manager of some sort. They had completely encircled him.

  “I am the manager of this bank. What can I do for you?”

  “I have come to return some money that I owe the bank.” Chaco started to reach into the backpack.

  The cops reached toward their guns.

  “I am just getting out the money.”

  Chaco pulled a heavy bag from the backpack. He sat it on the desk with a loud clank. He opened it and pulled out a handful of gold coins.

  Everyone around the table had a startled look on their faces.

  “Sir, I am Chaco from Peru. I had to borrow some money from your bank a while back and I have come to return what I owe. I know I damaged the bank door and the window as well. Hopefully, this is enough gold to pay for it. I am the Sapa Inca and our moral code is ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella. I hope that I have done right by your bank and we are square.” Chaco continued to pull out handfuls of gold coins until there was about twenty pounds of gold on the table. “I figure there is about one-hundred-sixty-six thousand dollars of gold here.”

  The cops immediately put a pair of handcuffs on Chaco.

  The bank manager was speechless as the police led Chaco away.

  “Wait a minute,” the manager spoke up. “You obviously don’t understand our ways, Chaco. Thank you for returning the money, I mean the gold.”

  Chaco was taken out to the squad car and driven away.

  ***

  The next day the New York Times headline read…

  CHACO PAYS BACK CITIBANK WITH TWENTY POUNDS OF GOLD

  Chaco was seen a few days ago in San Diego and now appears in New York City with gold coins from the 1500’s worth over $160,000.

  The gold rush is still on in San Diego. The governor of California has called out the National Guard to try and get control…..

  Chapter 72

  The police took Chaco down to the 42nd Precinct and booked him for bank robbery.

  The information had hardly gone out on the wire when the military became involved. Twenty four hours later Chaco was being transferred to a military base near Washington, D.C.

  Dr. Ortiz was contacting everyone possible to get Chaco released into his custody. He had even presented documents to the U.S. Embassy claiming diplomatic protection for Chaco. He was arguing that Chaco was a national treasure of Peru and the United States had no right to hold him.

  The President of Peru was demanding that Chaco be released immediately and be allowed to fly home to Peru.

  The
U.S. government dragged its feet as long as possible. They needed time to interrogate Chaco about dead space and the weapon he used in Pakistan. They needed all of the time that they could get. Chaco was taken into a large room and he was not treated as an enemy combatant.

  “May I call you Chaco?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Do you know why you are here?”

  “No sir.”

  “Chaco, your good friend, Franco, has told us about dead space and about some type of weapon that you used in Pakistan. Would you be willing to tell us about this?”

  Chaco didn’t want to get Franco in trouble so he answered, “Yes sir.”

  “These men,” he pointed at six men sitting in a semi-circle, “are experts in their various fields of science. Please tell us about dead space first.”

  “It is hidden space that can’t be seen. Because of the level of energy that is present around dead space, light is bent such that the space becomes invisible. Why it exists I don’t know and as to whether it can be detected with instruments I don’t know that either. I have the ability to detect it when I see it. It has something to do with a slight distortion of light that my eyes seem to be able pick up on. Franco and his friends couldn’t ever see it.”

  The questions went on for two more hours and then they took a break and sent Chaco down to the cafeteria for lunch with two soldiers.

  The scientists couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

  “It doesn’t seem possible that we have never detected such a distortion of space that is prevalent everywhere. I just can’t accept what he is saying until I see it with my own eyes.”

  They all agreed with Dr. Wilson.

  About two o’clock they all met again.

  “Chaco, can you show us an example of dead space? Do you think there is any dead space on the base?”

  “I would think so, sir. I can usually find it.”

  “Captain would you please accompany Chaco while he searches the base.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The captain and four soldiers accompanied Chaco on his search.

  They came back fifty minutes later which surprised the doctors.

  “Have you found any dead space?”

  “Yes we have, sir,” said Chaco. “It is near a warehouse by the airfield.”

  The scientists stumbled over themselves filing out the door following Chaco.

  “Over in that corner is the dead space,” Chaco pointed to where he meant.

  They quickly moved closer.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  “Neither do I,” said another and then another.

  They had brought several instruments to measure everything from temperature to radio waves. They tried every test imaginable and couldn’t see any distortion in space or time.

  “We just can’t find anything Chaco. You are going to have to prove that it is there.”

  Chaco walked over to the dead space, located the opening and disappeared right before their eyes.

  “Did you see that?”

  They all rushed to where Chaco had disappeared. They tried and tried but couldn’t locate the opening.

  “This isn’t right. Can we believe our own eyes?”

  Chaco stayed in the dead space for a half hour. He finally came out and shocked the scientists again.

  The rest of the afternoon and part of the evening was spent showing the scientists how to gain entry into the dead space but it turned out that Chaco was the only one who could find it. All of the scientists spent time in the dead space but afterwards still couldn’t find their way back in without Chaco’s help. The scientists were flabbergasted.

  One of the scientist’s comments spiked Chaco’s interest. He said that dead space had similar characteristics to a black hole. He went on to say that a person might be able to enter in one location and come out in another. Chaco had never strayed more than a few feet from the dead space entrance. He had always been afraid of getting lost and never getting back out.

  “We’ll continue this tomorrow morning at ten gentlemen,” said Dr. Morgan. “Will that work for you, Chaco?”

  “Yes, sir, but could you tell me when I can leave? I want to go home to Peru.”

  “I’ll talk to the general and let you know tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.”

  Chapter 73

  “Good morning everyone. The first thing we would like to deal with is the type of weapon Chaco used in Pakistan to help one of our soldiers escape. Could you explain that to us?” he looked at Chaco.

  “Yes I can.” Chaco looked at the crowd of men and women that were sitting there and noticed a couple men who he thought must be generals. “Wherever there is dead space an enormous amount of energy is being used to create the dead space itself. I am able to use this energy and focus it on a target and destroy the target.”

  “How are you able to use the energy?”

  “I created a device I called a transference mechanism. It focuses the light energy on a target and destroys it.”

  “Can you build one here?”

  “Yes. I would need a mirror, a piece of wood about a foot long, some wire, and he listed several other items.”

  They quickly gathered the items and watched Chaco make his transference mechanism.

  “It is so simple,” said one of the scientists.

  They filed out the door and proceeded to the warehouse near the airfield.

  “Can you give us an example of its use?”

  “Yes, but I can’t control the damage it will cause.”

  “How about the distance, how close do you have to be to the target?”

  “I don’t know the limitations on the distance.”

  “This area is shut down for the next couple of hours. See the vehicle sitting on the other side of the airfield, Chaco? I’d say it’s about half a mile away. Can you hit it?”

  “I can hit it but I will hit other things before I can focus in on that exact target.”

  “Go ahead and set up your device. Don’t fire until I give you the go ahead.”

  Chaco angled his transference mechanism in such a manner that the energy from the dead space would be directed toward the vehicle. “I’m ready.”

  Dr. Morgan made a quick call to be sure the area was clear. “Chaco, go ahead and fire.”

  Chaco started the transference mechanism and immediately a bright beam of light shot across the runway toward the vehicle in the distance. He slowly angled the device until it came to rest on the troop carrier. Five seconds later the vehicle exploded.

  “Okay, turn it off.”

  They all jumped into their jeeps parked nearby and drove out to the troop carrier. However a hundred yards before they reached the jeep they were stunned by what they saw. The runway was melted away about twenty yards wide. The runway was damaged from that point to about fifty yards past the troop carrier. The troop carrier was a melted piece of junk.

  “Unbelievable damage. He’s created a form of laser that is able to retain its energy level over a long distance. The energy being generated by the dead space must be enormous and to top that off…..our testing devices can’t even detect it. The ramifications of this are unbelievable.

  Dr. Morgan interrupted the other doctor and said, “We’ll talk about this later in the lab and for now I’m sure Chaco is ready for lunch.” He instructed the captain to take Chaco to lunch.

  Sort of odd behavior, thought Chaco. He doesn’t want to talk in front of me.

  Dr. Morgan picked up the transference mechanism and walked off with the other scientists and the captain. Chaco bent down to tie his shoe and when no one was looking picked up a small mirror that he hadn’t used earlier. The captain left the other group and took Chaco to lunch.

  The group of scientists and the two generals went to a conference room to discuss what they had seen. They were all in agreement that this transference mechanism had the possibility of creating a new generation of weapons that could make an individual soldier in the field undefeat
able. The ramifications of what they had seen would be classified top secret going forward.

  “What about the Peruvian government wanting Chaco back?” asked Dr. Morgan.

  “They can’t have him,” said the general. “We can’t release Chaco, and probably never will. If need be, we may have to create some disinformation about Chaco and imply that we don’t have him anymore. I’ll be meeting with the Secretary of Defense later today and I’ll inform you afterward of what we will do. Just put Chaco off as long as you can. Let’s keep him on our side as long as possible.”

  The Secretary of Defense reviewed the film of the test and agreed completely with the general.

  The next morning Dr. Ortiz was informed that Chaco had been released into his own custody and was informed that his visa would expire in two weeks. All charges of bank robbery would be dropped and Chaco was free to go home.

  Dr. Ortiz had a fit of rage when he heard this. Those bastards, they knew I wanted that kid and instead just let him go. Sanchez got on the phone to every airline carrier flying into Lima and demanded they inform Dr. Ortiz’s office immediately when Chaco made a reservation.

  Dr. Morgan kept putting Chaco off day after day about when he could leave. Chaco realized he now had a full time guard at his door and he was being monitored all day long.

  He’d had enough of this and it was time to go. Chaco began working on an escape plan.

  Chapter 74

  For two more days Chaco played along with the scientists. He stopped providing information whenever he thought he could avoid it. Every time he was out of his room he would carefully monitor each room and building looking for dead space. Finally toward the end of the second day he saw it in the hallway near the commissary. It was right next to a phone booth. The next day he was going to try to get away.

  “Chaco doesn’t seem to be as straight forward as he originally was with us General. I think he has figured out he isn’t going anywhere and he doesn’t like it.”

  “That is just tough luck for him, Dr. Morgan. We aren’t going to let him go until we know everything possible about dead space, and even then he may be too much of a risk to ever let him go.”