by David Wood
The ice broken, she plopped down beside him on the bed and leaned against him. The closeness should have been uncomfortable, but its familiarity was welcome and natural.
“ScanoGen is a bioengineering firm. Most of their money comes from military applications. That’s not a big surprise, considering the Amazon is believed to hold countless species of plant life that could have properties previously unknown. People have searched the rainforests for everything from recreational drugs to a cure for cancer.” For a moment, he was sadly reminded of their mutual friend, Franklin Meriwether, who had joined them on one of their adventures. Another place to which he didn’t want to let his thoughts drift.
Kaylin seemed to know what was on his mind, and she slid her arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. “So Thomas found something, or believed he would find something, that ScanoGen wanted. It’s the whole Fawcett connection that doesn’t make sense to me. In all the research we’ve done, there hasn’t been any mention of Fawcett going after some super plant, or whatever it is they want.”
“You remember the story Wainwright told us. The young man had with him a plant that had some sort of great power.” Maddock tried to ignore her closeness, the softness of her hair against his cheek. “That’s the only way I can see how a company like ScanoGen fits in.”
Kaylin looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling.
“What is it?” Maddock dropped his papers on the bed and met her gaze.
“You know, you never would let me all the way in, Maddock, but when we were together, you were never dishonest with me.”
Before Maddock could reply, her arms were around his neck and her lips pressed firmly against his. His surprise dissolved in the familiarity of the moment. It was as if the two of them had never broken apart. He returned her kiss, pulling her tightly against him.
“Ahem.”
They jerked away from each other like two teenagers caught parking. Kaylin smoothed her clothing and Maddock sat up straight.
Bones leaned in the doorway, grinning. “Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you’d like to know, we’ve found Quest.”
Unable to contain his excitement, Maddock bounded to his feet, offered Kaylin a hand, and followed Bones out of the cabin. Bones arched an eyebrow at him and grinned, but Maddock ignored him.
Above deck, Willis was already suiting up. “It’s about time we got into the water. Man, I hate this searching stuff.”
Inside the cabin, Matt and Corey were looking at a small monitor.
“Uma’s down there right now,” Matt said, his eyes not leaving the screen. Uma was an unmanned submersible camera, so nicknamed by Bones, who was a big fan of Uma Thurman’s character in the movie Pulp Fiction. On the screen, the outline of Quest, blue-gray in the deep water, suddenly filled the screen. She had settled on her port side, the bow resting on a rocky formation on the seabed, and the ship’s distinctive profile made her easy to recognize.
“She’s in great condition,” Matt observed. “Smokestack’s still intact and everything.”
“According to Jimmy’s information, Fawcett’s cabin was most likely in the aft section on the starboard side,” Corey said, scrolling down through a document. “Take her in that direction and let’s see what we can see.”
“Are you going to send Uma inside the ship?” Kaylin asked, leaning forward to get a better look. She touched Maddock’s arm, a detail not missed by Bones, who smirked.
“Not a good idea,” Maddock said. “She could get tangled, or the ship’s hull might cause us to lose our signal. There’s higher-tech equipment out there, but Uma’s usually all we need for our work.”
“Maddock, take a look at this.” Matt sounded surprised, and not in a good way. He pointed at a dark spot on Quest’s hull. Growing larger as Uma came closer, the image resolved into a square hole cut in the ship’s side.”
“Sorry to state the obvious, but that’s not natural.” Bones said.
“Look at the edges. They’re sharp and clean. The cut is fresh, too.” Mat shook his head. “Somebody got here before us, and not too long ago.”
Maddock stood up straight, clenching and unclenching his fists. “It has to be ScanoGen. As far as we know, they’re the only other player in this game, and I’m sure they have the resources to pull it off fast.”
“So what do we do?” Bones enunciated each word. When he spoke like that, he was right on the verge of breaking something or someone.
“We go through with the dive. Maybe they missed something. It would be crazy to come all the way here and not even take a look.”
“Then what?” Matt already sounded defeated.
“I’ve got something up my sleeve,” Maddock said. “We’ll talk about it after the dive.” Really, all he had was a nugget of an idea buried deep in his mind. He didn’t know if it would pan out, but they’d find out soon enough.
Maddock plunged into the water, letting the cool depths envelop him. Down here he could put thoughts of Kaylin and Jade out of his mind, and focus on the dive. This was the one place in the world that always felt right. Bones swam on his right, Willis his left. They glided through the water like three phantoms, slipping down into the semi-darkness. If only he had gills, he thought, he’d never leave the water. He’d felt that way since the first time his parents had taken him to the beach. Maddock, just a toddler, had slipped his hand from his father’s grip and wobbled toward the surf as fast as his legs would carry him. He had two memories of that day: the salt spray on his face, and his parents’ laughter as they trotted alongside him. Smiling, he kicked harder, plunging toward the sunken Quest.
The hole in the ship’s hull was exactly as Matt described it. It had clearly been made very recently, and the clean, straight cut indicated the use of the modern tools. It was large enough for two men to swim abreast through it, but they took it one at a time, just to be safe.
Maddock took the lead and found himself in a small room that fit the description of the cabin in which Fawcett had resided during his voyage on board Quest. He gritted his teeth. ScanoGen had done their homework, all right, and the likelihood of Maddock and his crew finding the missing artifact, whatever it was, was now even smaller.
Bones and Willis followed him in, moving with caution, so as not to stir up too much silt. As planned, the two of them exited the room to explore other cabins in case Jimmy’s information had been incorrect.
Maddock scanned the cabin. Though Quest lay on her side, one of the advantages to being underwater was that he could easily orient himself, creating the illusion that the ship still sat upright. Everything in the cabin had gradually slid to one corner, so he began his investigation there. A few items were scattered about, probably by ScanoGen’s divers. Maddock sifted through the crumbling remains of what had once been personal items belonging to the legendary Fawcett. Aside from crumbling bits of furniture, most of what remained had been reduced to silt and muck, and was no longer recognizable, though he did find a broken mug, a few buttons, which he stashed in his dive bag, and a corroded spoon, which he also kept. He searched every inch of the cabin, but found nothing else of interest.
Discouraged, he checked his watch. Two minutes until time to head back to the surface. Bones and Willis would be returning any moment. With no time to check out any other section of the ship, he returned to the pile of accumulated detritus in the corner and slid his hand down below the pile of muck. He ran his fingers along the seam where the cabin floor met the wall and was rewarded when he felt something hard that had wedged into a crack.
Exercising care, he slowly worked the thing back-and-forth until it came free. Holding it close, he grinned as his dive light shone on a fragment of pottery. He’d seen enough of these to know what it was. Feeling a little bit more positive about things, he secured it in his bag as a glimmer of light appeared in the darkness beyond the cabin door, telling him that his friends were on their way back. Maddock gave each of them the “thumbs up” sign as they passed through the cabin, indicating they
should head back up top.
Back aboard Sea Foam, Maddock wasted no time in showing the others what he had found.
“It’s a fragment of pottery, and it’s definitely Mediterranean in origin. This at least confirms part of Fawcett’s story.”
“So,” Bones began, “that probably means that Fawcett really did have a map carved in stone that showed the way to Kephises.”
“And now, ScanoGen has that map,” Matt finished. “So, where does that leave us?”
Maddock thought about all they had learned of Quest’s sinking, and the aftermath. He gazed out at the ocean, his eyes drifting to one of the small islands near Ascension. He wondered…
“I have an idea.” Maddock pointed to the small, rocky island in the distance. “Matt, take us there, as close as you can get.”
“What are we looking for?” Bones gave him a speculative look, the amused twinkle in his eye showed that he could tell Maddock was up to something.
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
Kaylin frowned. “But Maddock, what is the point…”
“Don’t bother,” Willis interrupted. “When he’s like this, there ain’t no point. That’s the point. He’ll tell us when he’s ready. Me, I’m gonna get a beer and wait for the big reveal.” He headed below to retrieve the beer cooler from the galley.
“What is that place?” Kaylin asked as Matt took Sea Foam in the direction Maddock had indicated. Out here on the water, with her blonde hair flying in the breeze, she was as beautiful as Maddock had ever seen her. He looked into her green eyes, so open and honest, and thought how different she was from the dark, exotic Jade. One was his seemingly perfect match, the other his perfect counterpoint.
“Did you hear me?” Kaylin grinned. “Typical man. I’d ask you what you’re thinking about, but I know how much you hate that.”
“Sorry. It’s called Botswain Bird Island.”
“Interesting name.”
“The name comes from all the birds that nest there. We’ve been assuming that Fawcett and the others took refuge on Ascension Island after Quest sank, but I noticed before we made the dive that Botswain is closer to the spot where she went down. Also, remember what we read in the naval library, about Fawcett complaining of ‘the infernal birds’ that annoyed them while they waited for rescue.”
“Okay, so how does that help us?”
“You’ll see.” He met her annoyed look with a roguish grin, and headed into cabin where Matt was piloting the ship in while Corey kept one eye on the depth readings and the other on a navigational chart.
“Are you looking for anything in particular?” Matt asked, keeping his eyes trained on the water.
“Yep. Just get in as close as you can and circle the island. I’ll tell you when to stop.”
“It shouldn’t take long,” Corey observed. “The island’s small enough.”
His words proved to be correct. Within five minutes, they were circling the shore of Botswain Bird Island. The tall, gray rocks gave it the appearance of a giant molar rising up from the sea. Maddock kept his eyes on the shore as they circled, Sea Foam plowing through the chop. Time crept by, and he was about to admit that he had been wrong, when they found what he had been looking for. A natural stone arch rose up from the water, joining the steep, rocky cliff at the water’s edge.
“Does that look familiar?”
“It’s the island in the painting!” Kaylin had joined them in the cabin. “You think it means something?”
“Matter of fact, I do.”
Chapter 14
Tam sat in the shade of an umbrella in an outdoor café in Cuiabá, the capital city of the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Under different circumstances, she would have found it a delightful place to visit. The city was tourist-friendly, and boasted a rich local culture of music, dance, and cuisine all reflecting African, native American, and Portuguese influences. At the moment, though, she was focused on the job at hand, and anxious to get started.
Her sat phone rang and she answered immediately. It was Salvatore.
“How are things?”
“We’re ready. I’ve got three guides lined up. Just say the word and we’re off.”
“I am pleased to hear it. I knew I made the proper decision in sending you. You shall begin very soon. It also seems that Kennedy was successful in his efforts to find the sunken ship.” Salvatore did not try to keep the satisfaction from his voice.
“That’s wonderful.” She wasn’t sure how wonderful it actually was. On the one hand, she didn’t like Kennedy and never cared to see him succeed. On the other hand, if he found something that helped her complete her part of the mission, good on him. “What did he find?”
“A map carved in stone. After all this time in sea water, the images were faint. Our people were, of course, able to make laser scans of the carvings and create enhanced digital images. We are now cross-referencing it with existing maps of the Amazon region. It appears, however, that the map has no particular scale, and little is known about the region into which you shall be traveling. They tell me that, assuming Fawcett followed this map, it appears that what the world knows about his final expedition is wrong.”
“Interesting, but not surprising. That certainly would make it difficult for anyone to have followed his trail, much less find him.”
“Indeed. I shall send whatever they come up with along to you as soon as it is ready.”
Tam’s heart beat faster. It was really happening. Don’t blow it, she told herself. This was her first assignment and she could not afford to fall out of Scano’s good graces by blowing it. She had worked too hard to get where she was in the organization, and it would be a serious blow indeed if she slipped up. “Very good. When can I expect it?”
“Soon. But you be patient. I’m sending a few…disposable items your way.”
“Sir?” She did not like the sound of this one bit.
“Thomas Thornton’s colleague, the one whom we questioned about Thornton’s only clue, has proved useless. The Charleston Police Department has been investigating his disappearance. We could go to the trouble of doing away with him and making it look like a crime, but it would be much cleaner if you would simply lose him in the Amazon. Besides, there is still a possibility he knows something useful, though I doubt it. Assess him, and eliminate him when you deem he is of no use. It should not be a problem.”
“No sir, it will not.” Tam felt a weight in her stomach. Damn! Another loose end to tie up. “You said ‘items,’ as in more than one.” Not Alex, she prayed. Don’t send me your snotty, psychopath son. That was one distraction she could live without.
“Yes. Cyrus and Jason have outlived their usefulness as well.” Tam had to remind herself that he was referring to Cy and Jay. “They seemed to think it a good idea to exhume Shackleton’s remains. Getting them off South Georgia Island and covering their tracks was a close thing. I cannot afford to have men with so little sense in my employ. Kennedy will arrive tomorrow with all three expendables. He knows your orders, but I fear he might grow sentimental about Jason, in particular. See to it that the job is done.”
“Kennedy’s coming here?” Her stomach was in a twist. Kennedy posed a problem of an entirely different sort.
“You need not worry. He understands that the command is yours. He’s a good soldier and he’ll follow orders.” She doubted that. “Kennedy is one of our best.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she kept her silence. A quiet ensued, enduring for so long that she wondered if the connection had been lost. Finally, Salvatore continued. “Our investors have grown anxious for Project Pan to get underway. They are growing impatient. We do not need them to take a direct hand.”
Tam’s heart raced. “You’ve never told me who our investors are, Mr. Scano.”
“Nor will I.” His voice was sharp with implied rebuke.
“Forgive me. I only wonder what I might come up against should they decide to get involved.”
“You need not worry ab
out it.” Salvatore’s voice had regained the fatherly, reassuring tone he often took when talking to her about a difficult situation. You and Kennedy have a head start, and you are well-equipped. Finish the job, and finish it soon, and we won’t have to concern ourselves with anyone else.”
“Yes sir.”
“Good luck, figlia mia.”
The call ended and Tam sat staring at the wall. The last thing she needed was Kennedy and two of his lackeys, no matter how moronic, interfering. She was close, she could feel it. But if they interfered…
She ordered up another Baden Baden Stout, the signature beer of the Brazilian microbrewery of the same name. Beer was seldom her drink of choice, but this particular beverage complemented the spicy food nicely. She took a sip, enjoying the rich, smoky flavor with a suggestion of dark chocolate and burnt coffee. She let the cool drink and calm atmosphere sooth her jangled nerves. She was a professional, and she would face whatever came her way.
She took another drink and smiled.
A complicated job had just turned into a Gordian knot. Oh well, a knotty problem required a bold stroke, and she had plenty of those up her sleeve. She wondered for a moment if Salvatore would still think of her as “daughter” when this was all over.
Chapter 15
As they drew closer to the arch, Maddock’s certainty grew. This was the same place shown in the painting. It had to be significant.
“So, now will you tell me all about your brilliant idea?” Bones asked, leaning on the rail and gazing intently at the stone formation.
“It was Fawcett’s complaints about all the ‘infernal birds’ that got me thinking. I believe they took refuge on Botswain Bird Island, not on Ascension.”
“The book did say it was a small island,” Bones agreed. “I get it. You think the arch in the painting was more than just a signpost to Botswain Bird Island. You think the arch itself is important.”
“Yep. And we’re told that Fawcett tried to recreate the map to Kephises. I think, while he was off keeping to himself and brooding over their situation, he carved a new map from memory, or at least tried to.”
