by Lee Falk
"We know that," said the bearded young man. "We plan to fly down by copter. We've already made arrangements to hire-"
"Suicide. With the quirky air currents inside and lord knows what other dangers...its suicide." Colonel Weeks strode up to the young man. "I think, Doctor Love, you're a fool to think of risking not only your neck but that of this fragile young woman here."
The girl laughed. "I'm Doctor Love, Colonel."
"Good Lord! You mean this expedition is being headed by a..." began the surprised colonel. He got hold of himself and removed the stunned look from his weathered face.
"Yes, Colonel-by a woman." The girl was sitting in one of the rattan visitors' chairs, her long slim legs crossed, her black notebook resting on one knee. "Doctor Jan Love, professor of biology at Boston University. This is Doctor Karl Waagener, an associate professor in our department."
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From the outer office, from the vicinity of Sergeant Barnum's desk, came a sound that was somewhere between an exclamation and a snort. "A lady boss," the sergeant muttered to himself.
Before he said anything further, the colonel went back behind his desk. He picked up his pipe and bit down on the stem. "I see," he said finally. He opened a crisp manila folder, thumbed through the papers inside. "You say you wish to explore the volcano because-?"
"From what we've heard there may be many interesting life forms down there," said Doctor Jan Love. "The odd conditions that exist within the volcano, the continual steam, and the complete isolation from the outside world for centuries, perhaps for thousands of years." The slender girl had uncrossed her legs and was leaning forward in her chair, her eyes glowing. "Going down there is like, well, like going back to the dawn of time, to the beginning of things. In a way, Colonel, I feel like Darwin must have felt when he came near the Galapagos archipelago. You know, the United States and Russia have been exploring the moon and even Mars. To me, well, your Veiled Lady is as big a challenge as the moon or Mars and she may provide us with more answers as to what life is all about than all the space probes put-" The pretty scientist stopped, laughed. "Excuse me, Colonel, for giving you a biology lecture. I simply want to convince you that, as a biologist, I'm dying to explore . On top of which I really think it would be a heck of a lot of fun."
The colonel went back to studying the papers in the folder for a moment. "I should have done my homework on you, Doctor. I see by these letters that you have a considerable reputation in your field." He leaned back in his chair, blowing smoke toward the ceiling. "I suppose you've heard the other stories about our Veiled Lady?"
Karl said, "If you think we came to search for the mysterious treasure of , Colonel, let me put your mind at ease. We don't believe hi such nonsense."
"Many people do, however," the colonel told them. "Which is one reason I know how treacherous is. Dangerous and difficult for the best of men. Two parties in the past decade have made a try for that treasure. No one ever returned from either attempt."
"We're not anthropologists or folklore collectors," said the slender blonde girl. "We're only interested in what really may exist in the volcano, in life-forms we can study and classify. The legends about sacrifices of maidens and gold and jewels in the dim past don't interest us at all."
Gesturing at the file in Colonel Weeks's hands, Karl said, "You'll notice Jan has been in a good many rough and out-of-the-way places, Colonel. She's never let the real hazards of a place get the best of her. She's certainly never been much worried about local superstitions."
Jan Love said, "If I start believing in the legend of a fabulous treasure, I may even come to believe in this jungle bogey man of yours."
"In what?" asked Colonel Weeks.
"In the legend of this undying mystery man who skulks around the jungle," said Jan. "What is it they call him? The Phantom?"
"Yes, the Phantom," said Karl. "You find similar naive beliefs in many parts of the world?'
The colonel watched both of them for a moment before he grinned. "No doubt," he said, closing the file. After clearing his throat, he continued, "I'm in sympathy with your intentions, Doctor Love.
However, I'm very much afraid I can't allow you to explore ."
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Karl half-rose out of his chair. "You mean you'll try to prevent us from flying into that volcano?"
"Yes. The Jungle Patrol has all the licensing authority for the area," the colonel pointed out. "I'm re-fusing permission. Sorry."
Jan ran a finger along her cheek. "I think I know why, Colonel."
"Oh, so?"
"It's because I'm a woman, isn't it?"
Colonel Weeks cleared his throat once more. "Well, yes, in a way. I'm really thinking of your safety, Doctor Love. is too dangerous-much too dangerous-for a girl."
"Yes, I've heard that before." Jan left her chair, and moved to face the colonel across his desk. "If I were a man then, you'd permit us to fly into the volcano?"
"Well," said the colonel, meeting the lovely biologist's eyes. "I'd still advise against it, but, yes, the license would be granted."
There was a silence and in it they all heard the crack of shots out on the rifle range.
"Suppose," said Jan suddenly, "I prove I'm as capable as the average man of taking care of myself.
Will you give us the darn license then?"
"I hadn't thought of putting you to a test, Doctor Love," said Colonel Weeks, grinning, a little puzzled. "However, I suppose I'm open to being convinced. What exactly did you have in mind?"
Jan straightened, jerked a thumb at the window. "Let's go outside. I'll show you, Colonel."
The slender blonde girl removed a thick rubber band from between the pages of her black notebook.
After tossing the notebook to Karl, she pulled back her hair and used the elastic to hold it in place.
"Okay," she announced, "I'll take my turn now if I may."
They were standing out in the hot afternoon, at the shooting end of the Jungle Patrol target range.
Dry, brown scrub grass grew around the fenced-in area and some kind of tiny imperturbable insects hovered in the air all about.
The half-dozen young recruits who'd been using the range stood in a semi-circle a short distance from Jan, Karl, and the commander. They were watching the girl, and talking among themselves.
Down at the rack end of the range, a brown, balding Jungle Patrol corporal was tacking up fresh targets. When he had finished he crunched away off the gravel, then waved a hand at the colonel.
Colonel Weeks had let his pipe go out. "All ready for you, Doctor Love." Relighting the pipe, he nodded at one of the young recruits. "Private Reisberson, if you'd be so kind as to loan this young lady your rifle."
"Uh," said the surprised Reisberson, "yes, sir. Here you go, ma'm. Careful you don't..."
The girl handled the rifle expertly. "Still using the M-l out here, Colonel?" Not waiting for a reply, the blonde stepped to the firing line, which put her a hundred yards from the targets. "Offhand position, first," she said, with the stock against her shoulder, her right hand around the grip and the
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fingers of her left hand forked just ahead of the balance point. She took a deep breath, held it, and squeezed the trigger.
"Um," remarked Private Reisberson as Jan continued to shoot "Doggone, look at that."
After firing ten shots, Jan lowered the borrowed rifle.
In a moment, the balding corporal came trotting up to them, waving the target the girl had used.
"You better sign her up, Colonel."
The Jungle Patrol commander took the target. "Well, well." he said. Nothing much was left of the bull's-eye of the decimal target. Eight of Jan's shots had hit the ten spot and the other two had penetrated the nine circles next to it.
"Shall we try it from a kneeling position next?" asked the smiling Jan.
The colonel held the riddled target up between himself and the bright sun. "I don't think that will be necessary, Doctor."
The girl shrugged
. "Just when I was getting warmed up." She returned the rifle to Private Reisberson.
"Um, doggone," he said.
Hands on hips, Jan was surveying the Jungle Patrol grounds. "Stables over there and then the gym up on that little rise, right?"
"Yes," said the colonel.
"Let's visit the stables next," Jan said.
Karl put his arm around her shoulders and the two of them started off.
After a second, the colonel followed.
A little over an hour and a half later Sergeant Barnum rolled forward in his chair, dropped his rubber bands and a handful of paper clips back in the drawer. He went and looked into his commanding officer's office. The door had stood open for the past fifteen minutes. "It's quitting time and... you look a little odd, sir."
"Well, I feel a little odd, Sergeant," admitted the colonel, rubbing at his left arm.
"I heard you giving those two scientists a license to explore ," said Sergeant Barnum.
"I thought you didn't believe in ladies doing dangerous stuff like that."
"Doctor Love isn't exactly your ordinary everyday lady." The colonel shifted in his chair, rubbing again at his arm.
"What were you all up to outsider'
"Well, Sergeant, the young lady was demonstrating to me that my ideas about her were merely male chauvinist notions with little or no basis in reality."
"Oh, yeah? How'd she do that?"
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The colonel nodded toward the window, then winced. "First she stepped onto the rifle range and hit eight out of ten bull's-eyes."
"Hey, that's not bad."
"Not at all," agreed Colonel Weeks. "Then she visited the stables, saddled and mounted one of our meanest horses, and took him over all the hurdles and hazards. After which, our Doctor Love dropped in at the gym and bested every man there in judo. She even threw our top man on his ear."
Sergeant Barnum blinked. "I thought you were the JP's top judo man, sir."
"So did I." The colonel picked up his pipe with his sore arm and lit it. "That will be all for today, Sergeant."
"It's enough." Sergeant Barnum saluted and left the colonel alone with his thoughts.
CHAPTER THREE
A soft, warm rain had just stopped. The sun showed up again in the morning sky and fuzzy rainbows flashed in the small oily puddles at the edge of the private airfield. A soot-colored dog hobbled out of the rain-dotted brush beyond the field, came up, and sniffed at a pool of bright water. The dog suddenly cocked its head and hastened back into the brush.
Through the gate in the airfield's cyclone fence a bright-orange compact car, rich with dents and scratches, came rattling. It swayed, squealed a little, changed its course, and came to a halt in a narrow parking area beside a low building with a red-tile roof. After the orange car stopped, it continued rattling for another ten seconds, then gave an explosive gasp and became still.
A big black man in a yellow-and-green dashiki hopped from the driver's seat, beckoning the other two people in the vehicle to disembark. "Safe and sound, right on time," he announced, readjusting his taxi driver's cap.
Tiny birds, whose colors matched the cabdriver's pullover, went fluttering up out of the dozen or so trees bordering the airfield's office building. Off in the brush, the sooty dog barked twice.
Karl Waagener stepped out of the battered cab, grinning. He held out his hand to Jan Love. "I can see what Colonel Weeks meant about this being a dangerous mission," he said. "I didn't think we'd survive this cab ride to our copter field."
Jan had her long blonde hair tied back with a dark ribbon. She wore an olive-tinted pair of aviator-style sunglasses, khaki slacks, and a blouse. "He's not a bad driver actually, only a bit too enthusiastic."
The cab driver unstrapped their luggage from the roof of his orange car. Walking around the cab with some of the bags, he stopped. "That's interesting," he observed. "Lost another fender. Huh."
"I think it was when we went up on the sidewalk to avoid the fruit vendor's bicycle," said Karl, handing more of their equipment down.
Jan said, "I bet it was when we sideswiped that herd of goats on the outskirts of Mawitaan."
The driver shook his head. "I think not, miss. I've sideswiped a good many goats in my day and
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never lost a fender that way yet." He shrugged. "Well, back to business." After setting their equipment, packs, and luggage on the mosaic tile steps of the airfield office, he told Karl what the fare was.
Jan paid him, adding an extra bill. "And something toward a new fender." She made a note of the amount in her notebook.
Taking the cash, the driver walked toward his cab. "Allow me to wish you good luck," he said.
"From what I overheard of your plans while we drove out here, I'd say you'll need a good deal of luck. , huh?" He jumped into the orange machine and went rattling away.
As the cab shot out through the gate, a jeep came driving in.
Jan, recognizing the colors and insignia of the Jungle Patrol, said, "Don't tell me Colonel Weeks has had second thoughts about our license to explore ."
Karl patted the pocket of his tan bush jacket. "Too late. We've got all the official papers we need for our jaunt."
The tiny yellow-and-green birds had returned to roost in the trees. They scattered away into the clear morning air once more.
Sergeant Barnum parked the JP jeep where the cab had been, turned off the ignition, and wiped at his broad sunburned face with the freckled back of his hand. He smiled over at Doctors Jan Love and Karl Waagener, giving them a lazy salute.
Colonel Weeks, the tall, gray-haired commander of the Jungle Patrol, stepped out of the jeep and came striding over. "I decided to see you off."
"And maybe talk us out of the whole darn thing," said Jan, smiling at the straight-backed colonel.
"I know you can handle yourself in ordinary tough situations, Doctor Love. You've proven that," said the colonel. "What worries me is the fact that things may be far from ordinary down inside the volcano. Frankly, I'd suggest-"
"Frankly," cut in Jan, still smiling at the Jungle Patrol commander, "nothing can change my mind. I appreciate your coming to wish us bon voyage, Colonel" She reached out to take hold of his rough, weathered hand. "Now, good-bye."
The door of the airfield office opened and a long, lean black man looked out. He wore a striped pullover shirt and faded denim trousers. In a holster at his side was a .38 revolver. "Going along on this excursion, Colonel Weeks?"
The colonel studied the pilot for a few seconds.
"No, Gabe," he said. 'Are you going to fly Doctor Love's copter into ?"
"Yes, sir, I am." Gabe nodded at Jan and Karl. "I'm Gabe McClennan, your pilot for this little excursion. Colonel Weeks and I are old friends, aren't we?"
"In a way," said the gray-haired colonel. "I thought Orlando was scheduled to handle this flight."
"He had a sudden attack of appendicitis," explained Gabe. He'd come out on the tile porch, and 12
leaned back against the office door. "Or so his wife said when she phoned in for him." Gabe laughed.
"Personally, I've got a hunch he's afraid of . Which is okay by me. I can use the extra pay and those volcano jujus don't bother me none." He pointed at the pile of luggage and equipment.
"Let's get that stuff stowed," he said to Karl.
While Karl and the copter pilot walked out to the blue-and-silver helicopter sitting on the field, Jan said to the Jungle Patrol commander: "For an old Mend, you didn't seem too cordial to our pilot. Is there something wrong?"
His eyes following Gabe, Colonel Weeks replied, "No, not really. A few years back Gabe was a pretty wild teenager, gave us all a lot of trouble. I have a hunch he may have been involved in a couple of things since then, but there's never been proof." He shook his head and pulled his pipe out of his pocket. "I suppose I ought to give him the benefit of the doubt. As far as I know, he's been clean the past few years and the people here swear by him. He's a very good pilot, nothing
to worry about in that department."
Out at the ship Karl turned and waved to Jan. "Time to leave," she said. "Good-bye, Colonel."
"I want you to keep in contact with us by radio from the copter," Colonel Weeks told her. "I've explained all that to Karl."
"If any superstitions rear their ugly heads, I'll give a good yell right into the mike." Jan turned and left the colonel standing on the tile steps.
