“Bastards,” she said under her breath as she thought about the riches the Inca had brought out of here on the labor and pain of others.
Sarah turned away and saw the bubbles of the beast’s underwater retreat from the chamber.
“I’m not a slave and you’re not going to keep me here,” she called as she turned toward the opening with the steps.
She suddenly stopped, as she thought she heard a gasp and then a sigh. She turned to trace the sound to its source. It came from the far wall. She held up the torch and could make out a small opening at the base of the excavated chamber. The light revealed discarded fish bones and rotted things strewn about the floor of the cave. Then she saw what she thought was a flick of fire emanating from one of the larger of the small caves. The light seemed to be coming from behind what looked like fabric of some sort.
Sarah grimaced at the smell coming from the wall of cave openings. She raised her damp shirt up to cover her nose and mouth, and walked toward the largest of the rooms. She slowly and carefully pulled the rotted flap of animal skin aside and leaned in, holding out the torch before her. Her eyes widened. There, lying and sitting around a natural pool of magma boiling in a small caldera that smelled strongly of sulphur, were the tattered remains of the Zachary expedition.
“Oh my god,” said Sarah.
Farbeux stopped the men as the shaft started to spiral at a much steeper angle. He held up his light and shined it along the hot and sweating walls. Then he focused it on Mendez, who stood there breathing heavy. His men were just as sweaty and out of breath. They had been moving for only twenty minutes when they stopped for the first time.
“Tell me, are you tired, señor?” Farbeaux asked, smiling.
“Tired, hot, and beginning to believe that there is nothing more than old statues in this mine,” Mendez answered angrily.
“Then maybe you wouldn’t be interested in this,” he said as he shined his large flashlight toward a three-inch vein of gold that streaked like a lightning bolt through the wet stone of the shaft.
Mendez’s eyes widened as he dropped his small pack and ran toward the vein. He rubbed it with his fingers lovingly. His men, too, immediately totally lost any fatigue they had shown earlier.
Farbeaux lifted his small satchel and quickly noted the reading on the small device he had inside. He smiled and looked up.
“Now, you can be satisfied with this small deposit, or we can go to the place were El Dorado really begins.”
Mendez beamed, totally rejuvenated. He reached down, removed his canteen from his belt, and swallowed some water.
“Lead the way, my friend. Where you go, we will follow.”
21
EVENT GROUP CENTER NELLIS AFB, NEVADA
Once again Niles was in a clean suit alongside Pete Golding in the clean room where the mainframe for the Cray supercomputer Europa was housed. They had been searching U.S. Army and Corps of Engineer databases for the past hour, hitting dead end after dead end.
“Gold—the army wouldn’t have been after gold with World War Two breaking out all over the globe; it just doesn’t add up. So what else would send a specialist team down there?” Pete asked, leaning back in his chair and stretching.
“I agree, to expend time and effort, and using the military and OSS to save gold prospectors—I just don’t buy it. Not with the way the war was going in 1942; we were still losing, remember?”
“Okay, so let’s try to go through the back door. The senator said he had no names for the people the OSS pulled out in 1942, right? But he did say where they were from: Chicago and Princeton. Let’s start there.”
Niles leaned forward. “Okay, Pete, go ahead.” “Europa, query. In the war years 1940 through 1942, was there any American university-sponsored expeditions to Brazil or the Amazon Basin?”
Formulating, said the female voice of Europa, then as quickly, During years 1940 to ’42, there was no American scholastic sponsorship of any South American excursions.
“Great start,” Pete said.
Niles shook his head but continued the line of questioning. “Europa, query. Were there any missing persons reports on University of Chicago or Princeton filed in those same years? Correction; expand search to 1945.”
Formulating, she said as she started to penetrate the security of not only university records but those of police departments and federal agencies throughout the nation.
Twenty-two records of missing persons reported from both universities during target years. Twenty-one were later reported as solved. One remained open, filed at Princeton, June 1945.
“Too late for filing,” Niles said.
Both men sat and thought. They were at a brick wall and they didn’t know how to penetrate it.
Europa has detected a pattern in your queries. Query: Do your current search parameters include accidental death of university personnel on foreign territory?
Niles looked at Pete. The Cray was designed to interact with its operators and advise if there might have been something overlooked in the search they were conducting.
“It does now, thanks to you, Europa. Continue please,” Pete said.
In calendar year 1942, a chartered aircraft leased by the University of Chicago was reported missing in the Brazilian rain forest south of the Amazon River. There were two University of Chicago survivors and one reported survivor from Princeton University.
“Wait a minute; didn’t you say there were no university-sponsored expeditions in Brazil during those years?” Pete asked.
The incident upon which the report was filed was not a university-sponsored action.
“Come on, who sponsored it?” Niles asked, losing patience.
Pete looked at Niles as if he had lost his mind. “Name the sponsor, Europa,” Pete commanded, still looking at Niles.
The aircraft in question was leased through the United States Army Air Corps and geographical survey sponsored by the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Corp ofEngineers.
“What in the hell is this?” Pete asked.
Europa does not understand the question.
“Not you. Niles?”
“Query. Can Europa identify the departments involved in this charter at the University of Chicago?” Niles asked.
Formulating, she said.
Niles stood as something distant and forgotten started to flirt with his memory.
The University of Chicago Department of Physics and Theoretical Sciences at Princeton University, Europa answered quickly.
Niles realized what picture was starting to form from the puzzle pieces being laid before him. And now the past came flooding back to him as Europa started putting the pieces of that puzzle together—something he did not want to think about. He rubbed his hands across his face in vexation but continued his line of questioning nonetheless.
“Query. Who were the heads of these departments at the two universities from UAO through 1942?”
Chairperson for the University of Chicago’s Department of Sciences and Physics for years in question was Professor Enrico Fermi. Director of Theoretical Sciences, Princeton University, and departmental chairperson for years in question was Professor Albert Einstein.”
“What have I done?” Niles asked.
“What are you saying here, Niles?” Pete asked while looking incredulously at the printed names.
“I may have killed everyone on that rescue mission, Pete.”
On the screen, spelled out in big blue letters, was Europa’s answer to the mystery of Padilla’s lost expedition: enrico fermi and albert einstein.
PART SEVEN
SPECIES OF GOD
The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking … the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
—ALBERT EINSTEIN
22
It took thirty minutes to pry Mendenhall and Sanchez out of the engine room. They found the body of Lebowitz pinned underneath the mainmast where it had
crashed onto the deck. Professor Ellenshaw had been trapped beneath one of the bunks in section six and it had taken a hacksaw to free him. Heidi Rodriguez had a nasty wound on her forehead and they had thought she wouldn’t wake up until she suddenly sat straight up and screamed that she was drowning. She had been found in section seven under an overturned stainless-steel table amid broken beakers and tech equipment. The bright floodlights from what remained of the deck lights lit the opening and surrounding dock and stairs that Teacher sat upon.
There was no sign of Jenks or Virginia. Danielle and Ellenshaw had shown up after they had freed the engineering section, and said they had been separated from the other two. Ellenshaw excitedly explained how Danielle had saved his life and almost killed him at the same time, by making him dive deep beneath the falls to keep from being crushed.
Danielle was now wrapping Heidi’s forehead with gauze from sickbay and talking softly to her. Jack took stock of the many bodies they had pulled out of the lounge and science sections, twenty-four in all. Ellenshaw’s two young assistants were lined up on the dock along with five of the Group’s security people, including Shaw and Jackson. Carl came up behind Jack and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Jack, I checked the holes that were punched into us. Two separate charges, definitely explosive devices. We have scorching on the hull and it was bent inward. I would say a three- or four-pound charge, the same with the engineering section.”
The major continued to stare at the covered bodies and didn’t answer at first. Carl was about to speak again when they were approached by Danielle.
“I hope Sarah is safe,” she said.
Jack turned on her, his gaze demanding to know what she knew.
“Major, the beast took her when our section was flooded. She and I both were grabbed. I struggled free, but Sarah didn’t. I’m sorry.”
“Why would the animal come into the ship?”
“This may sound strange to you, but I had the distinct feeling it was trying to help Sarah and me; don’t ask me why, it’s just a intuition.” She turned away.
“Jack, are you all right?” Carl asked, rubbing his bruised legs.
“Will,” Jack called out, ignoring the question.
“Yes, Major,” Mendenhall answered from where he was helping to tend the wounds of Ellenshaw and Stiles.
Jack walked over to one of the glass windows that now had a crazy line of cracks through it. Using a flashlight, he smashed out the remaining glass. He reached in and pulled out two handheld radios from the communications compartment, and quickly checked the settings and charge. He tossed one to Mendenhall.
“I have a job for you, and it’s damned well dangerous.”
Mendenhall looked from Jack to Carl and smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Jack just nodded, never more proud of the man he had sworn to make an officer, then a thought struck him. “Staff Sergeant Mendenhall, you are hereby promoted to the temporary rank of second lieutenant, United States Army, as witnessed this day by—”
“Lieutenant Commander Carl A. Everett, United States Navy,” Carl said in all seriousness.
“And based upon pending approval and recommendation of the director of Department Fifty-six fifty-six, Dr. Niles Compton, you are hereby notified of said field promotion. Is that understood, Lieutenant Mendenhall?”
Mendenhall frowned. “Yes, sir, understood. Now, you’ve given me the sugar, so I guess I’m ready for the medicine.”
Jack took Mendenhall by the shoulder and steered him away from the others.
“Look, Will, I need you to go out there and get to high ground. That means finding some way out of the lagoon, and climbing out and up beside the falls. I don’t know if the radio will reach me in here but, once in position, you are to watch the lagoon. Dig up a set of night-vision goggles and report on secure channel seventy-eight; you’ll be speaking with a mutual friend of ours who’s call sign is Night Rider One and your call sign is Conquistador. You are to tell him that Operation Spoiled Sport is on and to fire at will, if and when you see an armed element reach the lagoon, either on land or by boat. We hope it’s by boat. You tell Night Rider to execute, execute, execute. Three times, you got that, Will?”
“Yes sir, three times, and then what?”
“And then what? Get your ass behind a big rock and hope that Mr. Ryan’s burned-up body doesn’t land in your lap.”
Mendenhall just looked at the major.
“Seriously, if Operation Spoiled Sport works, you stay down until you know it’s safe, and, believe me, you’ll know when that is.”
“Major, who are these men coming?”
“We have to assume they’re bad guys. Boris and Natasha picked them up yesterday, heading our way. They’re heavily armed, and Niles and the president can’t account for ’em.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll do my best.”
“Good luck, Lieutenant.”
The major was joined by Carl, as they watched their new officer load his radio into a large plastic bag and stuff it in his shirt.
“All right, Commander Everett, let’s get ready and see if we can find anyone alive in here.”
Sarah was just entering the small cave when the sound of splashing water sounded behind her, and she quickly backed out in time to see first Virginia, then Jenks, as they were lifted out of the water by the creature. It started walking, dragging the choking and puking duo across the hard rock. It deposited them in front of Sarah, then turned away and walked slowly back to the water, where it disappeared.
Sarah helped Virginia to her feet and hugged her. Then she helped Jenks struggle to one leg before he shook off her assistance and sat back down.
“God, am I glad to see you two,” she said, crying. “Come on, Virginia, I’ve got something to show you.”
“Don’t worry about me; it’s only broken in two places. Ain’t shit,” Jenks said, looking at his leg.
Virginia ignored the master chief for the moment and followed Sarah to the largest of the cave openings. Sarah pulled back the cover as she again held the torch inside. Virginia immediately rushed inside, careful to avoid the bubbling magma caldera in the center of the room.
“Helen Zachary?” She went to her knees and placed her hand on the burned and scarred face of her old Event Group colleague. “My god, what happened?”
The young man next to her moved and his eyes fluttered open. He reached down to place a hand in the small running creek that coursed through the wall of the cave, and then wiped his face. Then he started to sob, waking up the other nine people that were sleeping along the rough-hewn walls.
“Thank god,” he said through his tears.
“What happened, why are you here?” Sarah asked.
“The … creature, it brought us here. It’s been …feeding us, keeping us alive.”
“What’s your name?” Virginia asked.
“Rob, I mean Robert Hanson, I was … am, Professor Zachary’s assistant.”
“Well, you’ve done well in keeping your people together,” Sarah said.
“Kelly, Kelly, come here,” Robby said into the darkness of the cave.
As Sarah watched, a young woman eased forward and sat next to the crying assistant. She smiled at Sarah.
“God, are we happy to see you,” she said with tears welling up in her own eyes.
“We have to get her out of here,” said Robby.
“We’re here to get everyone out,” Sarah said.
“You don’t understand.” He reached out and took Kelly’s hand. “This is the daughter of the president.”
“What?” Sarah asked loudly, startling all those that had awakened and were inching toward their rescuers to make sure they were real.
“Knock it off, Robby; I’m no more important than anyone else here.”
“All right, all right, you can explain this little tale later,” said Sarah. “Right now, we plan on getting all of you out.”
Meanwhile, Virginia gave Helen a quick examination, not liking what she saw. The profes
sor’s face was covered in lesions, and there had been massive hair loss. Her fever was so high that Virginia instinctively pulled her hand away after touching her forehead. There were black marks on her face and neck, and it looked almost as if her left eyelid had melted down over her eye.
“Good god, if I didn’t know any better, I would say this is—”
“Radiation poisoning,” Robby said as he failed miserably to be as brave as he wanted to be in front of the others and resumed crying softly while touching Helen’s hand.
“Radiation poisoning?” Sarah asked.
“The mine is full of uranium, enriched uranium, damned close to extremely hot plutonium. God, her fever is out of control,” he said as he felt Helen’s forehead for himself.
“These others, are they all right?” Virginia asked.
“Yes, scratches and frightened to death mostly. There are these animals that bring us plenty of fish to eat. But it’s as if they were keeping us here for a reason,” he sobbed. “At least the smaller one seems to keep the other creature away from us.”
“Other creature?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, this one’s big, has no human characteristics like the smaller one. It hates anything that breathes air, the professor thinks.” Kelly looked down at Helen. “She thinks the smaller animal is wild, and lives in the lagoon, while the big one was bred from the creatures that worked the mine, worked at bringing the ore up. She thought they were used to keep the slaves in line. Keep them corralled in here. The damn Inca used both the Sincaro and animals to do what they knew they couldn’t—mine the hot uranium.”
Legend: An Event Group Thriller Page 39
