The Encounter

by Donal Myrick

  That evening as they were sitting around Miguel’s dining tent, Max asked Carlos, “Carlos, what do you think about what we have been doing here for the past several months?”

  Carlos said, “I have heard a lot of rumors and witnessed even more. I have been as responsive as I possibly could in supporting your efforts down here, hoping I would have the opportunity to get the real story. You can’t imagine how much I have wanted to ask you about what the hell was actually going on.”

  “You have been an invaluable friend, and the support you have provided is appreciated more than you could possibly know. And, this adventure is not over yet. However, there is one thing I would like to know; is there a possibility that you would like to continue with this adventure and become a part of our team?”

  “If that is an invitation, without even knowing more, my answer is yes.”

  “We figured that would be your response, but before I tell you more, there are some things you first need to know.”

  “Such as?”

  “When we started this adventure, our goal was to be the first to descend the deep pit back in the cave. That was an ego thing best understood by cavers. But before we knew what was going on, we found ourselves embroiled in the middle of an international struggle in which the stakes are extremely high. We have found that our lives and the lives of others are dependent upon what we have discovered and upon our ability to conceal what we know. If you join with us, your life will become at risk and become dependent upon the success of how we proceed.”

  “You must be kidding!”

  “I am serious as a heart attack. This is not, by any stretch of your imagination, what we initially planned, but we stepped in it, and now we are up to our necks in it, and we are fighting for our survival.”

  Carlos thought for a moment, sipped on his beer, and said, “That is consistent with some of the rumors I have heard. I suspect that the fact that I have been so closely involved with your expedition that I am already tainted by association. If you all are in danger, I probably am also. I think I would rather know who is gunning for me than to be blindsided. So, as I said earlier, I would be delighted to be part of your team.”

  “Okay, you are in. I am not going to tell you a lot now, but I want you to plan to attend a party that we are throwing back in the states. It will be more of a planning session than a party, but we need cover for all of us meeting together. You will learn more there. Get your passport ready, and we will cover your expenses. Plan to stay a week or two.”

  Max went on to tell Carlos about the mystery of the glassified walls of the cave and the speculations that had abounded around explaining their origin. He did point out that all of the speculations were wrong, and that the true explanation related to their danger. He emphasized that their credible denial of any knowledge of the true origin of the wall’s condition was key to their survival. Max talked about their Russian involvement and the schism that existed within the Russian hierarchy. He avoided all mention of the aliens or the actual cause of the mysterious explosion.

  By the end of Max’s briefing, Carlos was experiencing information overload. He was beginning to second guess his decision to be part of the team, but since he had come this far, he was determined to see it to the end.

  CHAPTER 45

  Max and Peggy Visit Xyllio

  The next morning, Carlos and Geraldo departed Auyán tepui. Max had given Geraldo instructions for Félix. Félix had been watching the beacon. If anyone had come in search of the beacon, he was to get photos of the visitors. And regardless of whether or not anyone had come in search of the beacon, Félix was to make certain that he personally was unobserved, then he was to move the beacon to another location and reactivate it. He was to continue doing this so long as he could positively remain undetected. Max had faith in Félix’s special ops skills. Max was sure that this would cause a stir among the GMH’s if they were watching. Hopefully, this would draw immediate attention away from Max and Peggy.

  Max and Peggy retrieved their caving gear from Miguel and set out exploring the jungle staying well to the southeast of the cave. Their purpose was to get a good understanding of the dense multi-layered jungle canopy to make sure their actions could be hidden from prying eyes in the sky. They did their daily hikes for several days, making sure that no one was attempting to follow them. It seemed that Kuznetsov had lost interest in them, and had turned his attention elsewhere. Max felt that if anyone tried to track them on the ground that they could easily lose them. Surveillance from the sky was what concerned him because it was critical that they not reveal the location to the upper entrance to the alien’s cavern.

  On the fourth day, they deviated from their daily routine and made their way stealthily through the jungle a mile and a half northward to the hidden entrance to the alien’s cavern. They carefully crawled in, trying to leave no trace of their passage and began the three thousand foot rappel to the bottom.

  Their headlamps alerted the aliens to their arrival well before they touched down.

  They were greeted by all of the alien crew who were both happy and concerned with their visit.

  Xyllio said, “We are glad to see you again and that you are safe and well. But, you have returned much sooner than we had expected. Is there a problem?”

  “Hello everyone,” said Max. “I am glad to see you again, and, yes and no to your question. We have come back because we need your advice.”

  They proceeded back to the meeting place, and Max explained, “We have the location of your space ship. It was not hard to determine once we obtained the correlating data. The problem is that it is in a very remote location as you had indicated that it was. It is over a thousand miles from any settled location, and it appears to be under some really thick permanent ice. We don’t know how we will be able to get there or how we can get through the ice. We are planning a brainstorming session soon to see if we can come up with a plan. The problem is that we are a small band of people with limited resources. Further, none of us have any cold-weather training or arctic skills. We have only a rudimentary plan, nothing solid, and no details yet. That is why we are seeking your input.”

  “You do understand the instructions I gave you for entering the ship, correct?” asked Xyllio.

  “Yes, that is not the problem. The problem is, how do we get there undetected, and how do we get through the ice? We know that we will probably be watched remotely, so we will need to minimize both our visible and our heat signature. I remember you said something about the technology you used to conceal the spaceship. Is that something that could be applied to our activities?”

  “No, that technology would require access to devices located on the ship. However, I believe that the technology that you actually require should already exist. As for getting through the ice, our device for melting and fusing rock should be applicable for penetrating the ice. It can generate an enormous amount of heat, and on your time scale, it can last indefinitely.”

  “How does it work?”

  “Controlled nuclear decay.”

  “That should be useful in keeping us warm, also.”

  “It also works as an electrical power source. Your transports should be electric, and you should travel under an efficient thermal blanket. You can’t hide all of your heat, but if you travel during a storm, you should be virtually undetectable.”

  “So, our problem now is to get one of your rock melting devices out of here, and then out of the country undetected. Piece of cake, not! I’m going to refer to your rock melting device as the RMD.”

  Then Max asked Xyllio, “Just how big is the RMD?”

  “It weighs about two hundred and fifty pounds, and occupies roughly three cubic feet, part of which is detachable and is connected by electrical cables.”

  “How about your little hoverbarrow devices?” Peggy asked, “We could use one of them to carry the RMD back through the jungle.”

  “Good idea. I was wondering how I could carry it back to camp. That would solve th
at problem.” Max took that idea and thought, “What if we took two of those hoverbarrow devices back? We could use them to make a levitating sled that would carry about five hundred pounds of stuff. It could be pushed with very little effort over the ice, and it would have an insignificant thermal signature. I think our plan may be coming together. Peggy, you have the best ideas. Now we just have to get these devices to the surface and back to Miguel’s camp.”

  Peggy said, “The levitated sled was your idea, Max.”

  “Yeah, but it was you that remembered the hoverbarrow.”

  The next twelve hours were spent hoisting the three devices to the surface. That was when they noticed that it was nearly midnight. They realized that they couldn’t return to camp this late at night, because their headlamps would surely be detected by the ever-present eyes in the sky. They would have to camp out in the cave until morning.

  When morning came, they crawled once again out of the cave and placed vines and other foliage over the entrance to conceal it. It was then that they noticed that they were all muddy from the last bit of passage. At first, they were in a bit of a panic as to how they were going to explain their appearance, but then Max thought, “We can say, if anyone asks, that we found a promising lead, and we explored it.”

  They loaded up the RMD on one of the hoverbarrows and proceeded back to Miguel’s camp following a twisting and turning path that stayed low under the thick jungle canopy. The hoverbarrow made transporting the RMD virtually effortless. When they got near camp, they stashed the devices and walked triumphantly into camp. Their muddy appearance was quickly noticed and reported to Kuznetsov. Later that day, they received a note from Kuznetsov, stating that he thought they were through cave exploring. Max replied that there were a few leads that they wanted to follow up on and that they found a promising lead about three miles to the southeast that they had spent the majority of last night checking out.

  Max was sure that Kuznetsov would try to find that mythical cave. He mentally wished him good luck.

  CHAPTER 46

  It is Our Little Secret to Keep

  Next, they had to come up with a good plan as to how they were going to get the devices off of Auyán tepui without raising suspicions. Again, it was Peggy who came up with a good idea.

  “Look,” she said, “as far as anyone knows, we are here with no real mission. Why don’t we have some fun? Let’s get some parasails up here and just fly everything down to the valley. We could get everything off the mountain and back to Canaima Camp before anyone was the wiser.”

  Max said, “Peggy, you are brilliant! Geraldo and his buddies are all parachute qualified. They could bring the equipment up here, and we could make it look like we were having a big photo op party. That would be the perfect cover. Let’s do it.”

  Planning began immediately. Geraldo was contacted and was told to bring Félix and one of his cohorts, and eight parasails, including three tandems. Félix said he and his guys were watching the beacon as they had been instructed. Geraldo told two of them to return and leave one to watch the beacon. Two of them were needed back at the mountain now.

  Miguel talked with the Park Director and arranged for boats to meet the parasailers and transport them back to Canaima Camp. Carlos was to fly around and take pictures. Everything was being done in the open, and it appeared that nothing was being hidden, only that the Americans were planning a crazy stunt.

  Two days later, the crazy group was assembled, and the photo op proceeded. Geraldo, Félix, and Roberto joined Max and Peggy and with several personnel from the Park Service. Roberto, one of Geraldo’s trusted trio, was a powerful two hundred and thirty pound short and stocky special ops trooper nicknamed Poquito. The devices were carefully packed in the tandem parasail duffle bags. The plan was for each bag to be flown down as the ‘passenger’ on the tandem parasails. This wasn’t a problem for the two hoverbarrows, because they each weighed only a little over one hundred pounds. The RMD was another matter altogether. It weighed well over two hundred pounds and fell to Poquito to manage. Poquito’s rig could handle a combined load of nearly five hundred pounds, so Poquito plus the RMD would be right at the limit of his chute. It was believed that launching Poquito would be the most challenging task of this whole effort. When the time came to launch, Poquito wrapped his arms around the heavy duffle bag, picked it up, strode to the edge of the escarpment, and looked out over the three thousand foot drop to the valley below. Max, Geraldo, and two park service personnel carefully spread his large chute out behind him, holding it up to ensure that it didn’t get entangled on the rocks when Poquito launched. A gentle breeze wafted up over the edge of the escarpment. On signal, they lifted the chute into the air, and the breeze rapidly inflated Poquito’s chute lifting him straight up. Poquito quickly took control of his chute and sailed straight out over the edge of the escarpment. Everyone gave a big shout and a sigh of relief. What was feared was going to be a difficult and dangerous launch went off with unanticipated ease and precision. Félix and Geraldo quickly followed Poquito.

  As everyone watched, the three parasails flew out from the escarpment and then turned back in large descending circles like big colorful, soaring condors.

  Max remarked to Peggy as she prepared to launch, “Who in their wildest imagination would ever think that right out there circling around in broad daylight for anyone and everyone to see are three of the most technologically advanced devices on the face of this planet.”

  Peggy quipped back, “And it is our little secret to keep.”

  And with that, Peggy launched, and shortly afterward, Max Launched. Carlos circled around overhead, photographing the flights from launch to touchdown. Peggy also recorded some fantastic video with her helmet camera. None of the onlookers had any idea that this was anything other than an adrenaline junkie’s photo-op stunt. Several hours later, the devices were safely stowed at Canaima Camp, awaiting the next phase of their trip.

  The next piece of the puzzle was how to get the devices out of Venezuela and safely into the states undetected.

  The next day, Félix and Poquito returned to their task of watch guarding the beacon. Geraldo made plans to stay at Canaima Camp with Max and Peggy until the devices could be moved. Max contacted Scott to let him know that he had three pieces of luggage he needed to ship back to the states, but that he didn’t have the Foundation’s credit card, so could he arrange shipment. Also, if Sam could come back to Canaima Camp briefly to help fix a problem with Peggy’s drones, it would be appreciated. Without a secure channel for communications, it was not possible to tell Scott everything that they wanted to tell him, so Scott was on his own once again until Sam could complete his round trip and relay the messages.

  CHAPTER 47

  A Plan for Smuggling

  Back in Huntsville, Scott knew Max was trying to tell him something that he couldn’t say directly, hence the need for Sam to return immediately to Venezuela. He knew it was up to him to come up with a plan to bring the three pieces of luggage to the states. The problem was that he didn’t know what was in the luggage, how big it was, or how much it weighed. Sam had traveled to Huntsville to help in whatever way he could, and now he was going to have to make a quick trip back to Venezuela. But before Sam was to leave for Venezuela, Scott wanted to meet with Glen Neely.

  Scott gave Glen a call, “Glen when would be a good time for you to come over to the office and meet with Sam and Me?”

  “You name the time, and I’ll be there.”

  “Okay, how about eight in the morning? Connie will have coffee and donuts ready.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you in the morning. By the way, about the donuts, I thought you were a health food nut, what gives?”

  “Down in Venezuela, sometimes I ate high on the hog, and other times I ate very low on the hog, so now I am just trying to even things out. Besides, I really like donuts.”

  “See you at eight.”

  Promptly at eight the next morning, Glen Neely showed up at the office of
the Mueller Foundation, where Connie met him and led him to the conference room where Scott and Sam were waiting.

  “Good morning Glen, can I offer you a cup of coffee and a donut?”

  “Absolutely, I have never been known to pass up a free offer.”

  Connie, who already knew that he took his coffee black and preferred chocolate iced glazed donuts, handed him a cup along with his favorite donut before he finished speaking.

  “Thank you, Connie, as usual, you are ever so efficient. Scott, now that the expedition is concluded, I hope you are going to bring me up to date on the expedition results.”

  “Indeed I am, except that the expedition is not over. It is a continuing saga, and perhaps the most important chapter is yet to be written.”

  “Oh, really? I thought that once you freed yourselves from the scrutiny of the Russians, you would proceed to your objective unabated.”

  “Wrong again. Let’s move to another room to continue our discussions.”

  With that, they walked down the hall to the elevator and proceeded to the basement. In the basement was where the Mueller Foundation’s SCIF was located, and where conversations could be held in complete secrecy.

  Once inside, Scott explained, “First, I want you to know that we are still under intense scrutiny, and we still must guard our every move. Every member of our team is in constant danger, and as best we can tell, the only thing that is protecting us is our feigned ignorance of virtually everything we have discovered. If our secrets became known to our enemies, and we are not really sure who all of our enemies are, or if they had actionable suspicions that we knew what we know, they would take action to eliminate each and every one of us. So, we are being very cautious and trying to project an appearance of not knowing anything. Our appearance to the world is that we are just a bunch of cavers who have just finished exploring the world’s deepest pit and are now trying to capitalize on our success. Secondly, we see no immediate way to extricate ourselves from this mess, and even if we wanted to, reasons, morally, ethically, politically, every other ‘ally’ you can think of, prevent us from actually walking away. So, here we are, we now have a new objective and an enlarged set of challenges. We must pursue our new objective to a successful conclusion if we are to survive. It is as simple as that.”