by Terry Mixon
Mister Rogers paused. “A valid point. Thank you for the reminder. Miss Cook, if you’ll allow me to bring some experts in to conserve and examine the artifacts you’ve recovered, I believe that it might be worth a great deal to me. And you.”
“And to Harry,” she said. “He was there every moment of this exploration.”
The younger Rogers shook his head. “I was under contract to rescue you. I have no claim to anything in that chamber or the data you found.”
“You risked your life to get this. I say you do.”
“And I say I don’t.”
Clayton Rogers made calming gestures with his hands. “I’m sure the two of you can work that out at your leisure.”
His son’s jaw shot out. “She’ll want to contact an attorney she trusts to review whatever you offer. You’re a shark and I won’t let you gobble her up.”
“I bet your military group has an attorney,” Jess said. “If you were my partner in this, you could loan him to me.”
Harry gave her a look. “Maybe. I’m going back out front. Don’t let him bully you into signing anything. I’ll give my lawyer a call tomorrow and arrange for her to review your contract.” He shifted his gaze to his father. “I might have to take a small share just to keep you honest. Don’t cross me.”
She stared at the door after he’d departed. “Is he always this mule headed?”
“My son is many things, including stubborn. He’s also honorable to a damned fault. My advice is to listen to him. This find is valuable. Very valuable. Well worth killing for or cheating someone out of their share.”
“Would you do that?” she asked as she retrieved her memory chip.
He steepled his fingers. “I’ve done things in business that would horrify you, I’m certain. I could swear my intentions are honorable, but that should fool neither of us. I’ll strike as good a bargain as I can while still being fair.”
He leaned back in his chair. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Please, take your bag and stow it near your seat. I want you to have sole custody of it until we settle the details of what this means.”
She made her way back up to the front of the plane and sat down beside Harry. “I’m not sure what to do next.”
“Get some sleep,” he advised. “Tomorrow is going to be a long one. Also, make sure and count your fingers once you shake on this deal.”
He stuck a pillow behind his head and quickly went to sleep.
She ordered a stiff drink and it wasn’t long before she joined him.
Chapter Eleven
Harry slept like crap. He’d run through collapsing tunnels chasing Jess for what seemed like hours. He woke when the plane touched down, more exhausted than when he’d dozed off.
His people gathered their gear and deplaned once the pilot shut the engines down. To his annoyance, Jess seemed rested and ready to take on the world.
The view of the Yucatan Spaceport was rather limited in the middle of the night. He couldn’t see any of the launch towers. Hills blocked the no-doubt inspirational view.
His father directed them to cars that would take them to the hotel. They’d sleep again and join him for a late breakfast. Jess sat beside Harry in the one he piled into.
“So, how careful do I need to be?” she asked. “He might be your father, but he’s my boss. I don’t want to overly antagonize him.”
It took a moment for Harry to squelch his instinctive response that Clayton Rogers couldn’t be trusted. That was his bias speaking. “Have a lawyer look everything over before you sign it. Mine, yours, or someone else you trust. Bargain hard. My father will slip something past you if he can. Once you both sign on the dotted lines, though, he’ll honor the agreement.
“And by that, I mean what’s spelled out in black and white. Oral agreements don’t count. Read the fine print and look for things he can twist. This is worth a lot of money and he plays hardball when it comes to stuff like that.”
She nodded slowly. “I’m not really interested in the money. I want to follow the mystery.”
Harry snorted. “Don’t tell him that. He’ll value what you found more highly if he has to pay for it. Show him that while you might’ve been born on a Tuesday, it wasn’t last week.”
“You’re funny. Give me the name of your lawyer so I can have someone check her out.”
He gave her the woman’s name and number. “Tell her I sent you and that the work is highly classified. She’ll keep it under her hat.”
“You seem to trust very few people. How can you be sure about her?”
“I rescued her son from Eastern Europe about five years ago. She’s as loyal as any human can be.”
Jess’ expression softened. “You’re like a knight in camo. I’m not kidding.”
Harry shook his head. “Don’t make me into something I’m not. I’ve done as many bad things as anyone else. War sucks.”
They pulled up to a brightly lit hotel. It was almost four in the morning, so things were quiet. Someone expedited the check in and had them in their rooms a few minutes later.
Harry put his pack in the closet, locked the door, and put a chair under the knob. He didn’t like sleeping in places he didn’t control.
His pistol sat on the toilet seat while he took a quick shower. It went on his nightstand when he face planted.
It only seemed as though a few minutes had passed when someone started pounding on the door. One glance at the clock showed it was only seven. “Go away.”
“You’ll miss breakfast,” Jess yelled through the door. “They might have blueberries.”
“Is that your criteria for a high end breakfast?” He rolled out of bed. “Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”
“You want the clothes in the hall?”
“Hand them through.”
It only took a moment to pull the chair back and crack the door. She stood in the hall looking well rested. She wore a pale blue blouse, a dark skirt, and shoes without heels. If he didn’t know better, he’d never have suspected she’d been on an adventure in the Guatemalan jungle yesterday. She had her pack over her shoulder.
“I had no idea you were shy,” she said with a grin.
“I could be naked over here.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you? What if ninjas attacked?”
“Then I’d kill them naked.”
“I’d pay good money to see that.”
Harry grabbed the clothes and headed for the bathroom. He closed the door most of the way, took care of business, and washed his hands and face. “How can you be so chipper? You were awake as long as I was.”
“I thought you military types got up early every day so you could run ten miles and do an obstacle course.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to like it. You learn to sleep when you can.”
“That’s rough. I’m a morning person.”
“Figures. Nobody’s perfect.”
He dressed, combed his hair, and started shaving. “I dreamed about that damned spaceship last night. I can’t believe it, even after having seen it with my own eyes.”
“I’m in the same boat,” she said. “The scope of this find is mindboggling. Advanced humans long before the Europeans discovered the American continents. Where did they come from? Space? That seems almost inconceivable.”
“Why not time travel?”
“Let’s stick to reasonable possibilities.”
He grabbed his boots and headed back into the bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of his bed. “Why? Because advanced humans from outer space is a more likely alternative than time travel? You said that ship didn’t use reaction mass. Maybe it’s a time travel ship.”
She opened her mouth to say something and stopped. “I guess I shouldn’t dismiss the idea out of hand. I should let the evidence tell me what’s possible. How much do you think a find like this is worth?”
“A lot of money. It’s proof that others visited our world and educated some of us to work for them.”
He smiled at her surprised expression. �
�I read science fiction. I get this has implications with aliens. That’s big stuff. And, if word of it gets out, everyone and their third cousins will be after the technology. It means weapons, star drives, and possibly any number of other things. I’d be real careful who you mention this to.”
“Aliens might be a jump. We’ve only found evidence that humans were involved.”
“Since there’s no indication of a high technology center on Earth a thousand years ago, the tech had to come from elsewhere. That means aliens. Unless you believe in Atlantis.”
She rolled her eyes. “At this point, I’m not ruling it out, but I don’t think so. Plato almost certainly used the fictitious island allegorically. Even he said the events he supposedly chronicled took place something like 9,000 years before his time. But, with this find, it makes me wonder if he was being literal. This just boggles my mind. I want to see where this leads.”
“Me, too,” Harry admitted. “If anywhere. I figure other signs of this are long gone.”
“Except in space. The only place we’ve been to in person is the moon. NASA wanted to go to an asteroid a couple of decades ago, but that never happened. They killed the idea of returning to the moon and gave lip service to manned missions to the asteroids and Mars, but they never did anything more than blow hot air. That was the end of American leadership in space. Hell, recent events were the end of America going into space at all.”
Harry snorted. “I had a ringside seat when my mother did her part to put NASA out of business. Corporate greed and governmental incompetence at its worst. Now China and India are locked in a race to Mars”
“Yeah, both of them are a few months away from leaving orbit, but the ships are complete. The planets just need to line up.”
He nodded toward her bag. “That might just change things. Maybe make my father pony up some cash to get a mission out to that comet.”
She gave him an odd look. “Could be. We need to get moving if we want to eat.”
They stopped talking about the find once they got onto the elevator with other people. Jess changed the subject adroitly. “What will your people be doing while we talk? Shouldn’t they be out saving the world?”
“If they’re smart, they’re sleeping in. Depending on what I hear this morning, I’ll either send them back to the US or keep them here.”
The doors slid open and everyone hustled out. A rotund man in a suit came from behind the desk when he saw them. “Mister Rogers, Miss Cook. I’m Thomas Quincy, the hotel manager. I hope you had a pleasant night. The elder Mister Rogers has arranged breakfast in a private conference room. If you’ll come with me, I’ll see you there.”
Jess took the man’s offered hand with a smile. “It was perfect, thank you. Tell me, do you have blueberries?”
“Of course.”
She grinned. “Excellent.”
He turned to Harry. “Do you have any specific breakfast requests, Mister Rogers?”
“No, I’m pretty pedestrian in my tastes. I’ll want some good coffee, though, and lots of it.”
“I’ll make that happen. This way, please.”
Harry followed the two of them and watched Jess almost skipping along. Blueberries. He might never understand her at all.
* * * * *
Jess walked to the conference room with the manager. Two large men in dark suits eyed them with disfavor, but opened the door. The elder Rogers was already there, sipping on coffee and talking with two women in lab coats. All three looked over as she and Harry made their way in. The manager did not accompany them and the guards closed the door.
Clayton Rogers rose from his seat. “Miss Cook, Harry. Meet Doctors Paulette Young and Rachel Powell. They are two of the most experienced professionals on the planet at restoring and protecting delicate artifacts. If you have no objections, they will remove everything you found from the pack and begin the preservation process. They are independent contractors and will answer to you unless we come to an agreement.”
Jess slid the backpack over to the women. “Us. Harry is part of this.”
She watched Harry look to the ceiling, probably praying for strength. “That again? I told you, I was under contract to rescue you. I’m a hired gun. One who has finished his work, by the way. I expect to be on my way shortly.”
Harry’s father pursed his lips. “It’s true that you were there at my behest. However, I’ve consulted with my attorneys and they tell me that the find is unrelated to the work I hired you to do. Which I have paid you for, by the way, with a significant bonus.”
The mercenary’s eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed. “You don’t give anything away for free. What are you up to, old man?”
“Why don’t you eat your breakfast while we discuss that? We’ve shielded this room from monitoring of any kind. No transmissions in or out. The good doctors have signed strict non-disclosure agreements and my people will search them closely when they leave their laboratory. If we can come to an understanding, the items will be under heavy guard and 24/7 observation by the most paranoid security people I employ.”
Jess watched the interplay between the two men with interest. Harry’s antipathy couldn’t be plainer, yet his father accepted it as though it was normal. Dysfunctional didn’t begin to describe their relationship.
At her nod, the women took possession of the pack and one of the guards from outside escorted them down the hall.
“And how do we order breakfast if we can’t call out?” Jess asked once they were gone.
“The old fashioned way.” He slid a pen and pad of paper over to her. “Write whatever you want on that. When we have everyone’s order, we hand it to the paranoid men outside. They send it to the kitchen and examine what they bring back. The coffee is in the carafe. It’s quite good.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And how do I know what I can order without a menu?”
The older man smiled. “You tell them what you want and they figure it out. The sky is the limit. Do you want caviar and champagne for breakfast? Something even more esoteric? Make it so.”
That set her back for a moment. “I’m a woman with fairly simple tastes, so I don’t expect to break your bank account.”
“As long as you have blueberries, she’ll be happy,” Harry said with an amused glance at her.
“Then you’re in luck,” Clayton said. “I had some with breakfast yesterday. Now, to address your earlier comments, I’m not giving anything away. From my point of view, it doesn’t matter how the two of you split my offer. Or even if you do. Your objection needs to go to her. Frankly, I hope you stand your ground. That would simplify matters a great deal.”
Harry stiffened and his demeanor shifted. “I’ll bet it would. Well, maybe it’s better that I keep an eye on what you’re up to. Not only for her sake, but to keep you from misusing this find.”
“Let’s eat before you become even grumpier.”
Jess suppressed a smile as she wrote out her breakfast order. Her boss had just played his son. She could see the satisfied gleam in his eye. As sharp as Harry was, he had baggage.
And, to be honest, so did she. Mister Rogers was her employer. A wealthy man in a position of great power over her life. She’d best keep that front and center as they talked. She had a fine line to walk while guarding her interests.
Jess gave Harry a pleading look. “I hope you reconsider. No offense to your father, but I’ve worked for him for years. I’m not sure I’d push a hard enough bargain.”
The younger man nodded. “Maybe. For you.” He started writing an order for himself.
While he focused on that task, she looked at his father. He inclined his head slightly with a hint of a smile. He’d seen through her plea.
Once Harry slipped their orders under the door, the elder Rogers leaned back in his chair. “The doctors are aware that these items are of an indeterminate age and unknown origin. They’ll be working exclusively on this project for at least the next year, with options to extend that by two one-year periods.
They know nothing of the ship and it’s probably best we keep it that way for now.
“As there was no choice, they are aware that some or all of the items in that pack may be of extraterrestrial origin. They’re being exceptionally well compensated for their isolation and discretion.”
She took a deep breath and picked her purse up from where she’d set it on the floor. “There’s something else that I think I’m more qualified to look over.” She took the cube out and set it on the table along with the key to the spaceship.
Harry gave her a disapproving look.
“You took that and didn’t tell me? What if the ship had blown up?”
“I couldn’t leave it down there. What if the ceiling had collapsed? Again.”
The older man gave her a searching look. “What is that, and why is it glowing?”
“I think it’s a power supply,” she said. “I’ll need to get it into an engineering lab to work on it, but based on the fact it still had enough charge to power the crashed ship after a thousand years, I think it’s pretty damned important.”
“So, it’s a battery?”
“I think it’s a power generator of some kind. Given that there was no indication the ship used reaction mass, it had to require a significant amount of power to move. I’ll need to do a lot of testing to figure out how it works.”
Her boss took a sip of his coffee. “That will be a priority, I’m sure. The potential applications are enormous. I’d say they might be useful in our current endeavor, but I think the project is too far along.”
“You can never have too much energy,” she said.
“True enough. I see several paths going forward. First is the pyramid. I’ve volunteered Rainforest’s services to the Guatemalan government in recovering Doctor Valdez’s body from the ruins. That will take some time, of course, and may not generate any recoverable artifacts.
“The second site with the spaceship is self-evident. The third possible recovery site is the astronomical body you found reference to. If it was important enough to note, it may have some interesting ruins of its own.”
Harry frowned. “How will you search there? A probe? That’s going to be difficult and take a while, especially if it’s not near Earth.”
