by Chris Tucker
The jet itself was custom built and detailed according to Hunt’s specifications. He used his military connections to call in a few favors and was able to transform a Gulfstream V into one of the most sophisticated, high performance and long range aircrafts in the world. In doing so, he was now in command of a vehicle that far exceeded the capabilities of any other private jet in the world.
With a non-stop range of slightly over seven thousand miles and a maximum speed of Mach One, NESA could reach any destination in the world for an assignment on fairly short notice. The cabin was large enough to hold up to twenty passengers, but rarely saw this number during any flight, as most of the space was taken up by computers, satellites and other research equipment. The air inside the jet was controlled by an Environmental Control System and any outside noise was virtually non-existent despite being powered by two BMW Rolls-Royce BR710-48 engines. The newest feature, in particular, was one Hunt was eager to share with his Special Operations Director.
“Sean, you and Pat come over here. I want to show you something.”
The two men followed Hunt aboard the aircraft. Staring at the unusual piece of equipment, Vigil asked the obvious question.
“And what exactly are we looking at?”
Hunt responded, “I had this developed for deep sea salvaging, but figured it would save us the time of walking through the jungle with handheld metal detectors.”
Mercer had a puzzled look on his face. “I’m still not sure what you mean, Colonel.”
“It’s a Laser Interference Gravimeter.”
“A laser what?” asked Vigil.
Hunt explained. “Take your typical gravimeter. It uses counter-balanced weight to measure the relative strength of gravitational force. Well, this one has been enhanced by adding a ten foot long tube with a large mirror array attached to it.”
Vigil chimed in. “I’m still confused. So, it’s basically an overpriced sonar detector?”
“Not quite,” Hunt said with a glare. “Essentially, it’s a high precision gravitational field strength meter that is one hundred times more accurate than traditional gravimeters.”
Mercer was beginning to see where all this was leading. “And we use this to find the gold lying underneath the forest floor?”
“Precisely,” pronounced Hunt. “But, since we don’t know where we’re supposed to be looking, we’ll have to do a few flyovers of the area to pinpoint a mass large enough to hold that much gold.”
Mercer’s eyes gleamed at the thought of finding the ship and its cargo. “Will it be able to detect through ash and rock?”
“There’s a three mile path length the laser can reflect through. The long path enables the LIG to detect minor variations of density in the Earth’s crust. In plain English, it performs hyper-accurate density mapping of selected areas.”
Mercer knew this meant days of wasted time searching for the gold wouldn’t be necessary. Vigil was also relieved their workload for finding the gold would be drastically reduced. He looked over at Hunt.
“Colonel, I could kiss you.”
“I told you last time, if you ever kissed me again, I would punch you right in the mouth.”
All three shared a laugh. Then, Hunt told his men to get ready for takeoff. Ten minutes later they were barreling down the runway and the plane gently lifted off the surface of the pavement.
***
Esperanza led his men through the thick brush while his employer trailed closely behind. About two hundred cartel members scoured the dense forest in the blistering heat searching for the buried ship. Vallejos was using an old map of the area, guiding the expedition to where the river originally flowed through the town of Tamarindo.
By a rough estimate, he guessed they were just around two miles from where the town stood a century and a half earlier. Knowing nothing about pyroclastic flows of volcanoes, he had Rojas do some research to try and determine how far an object the size of a ship could be displaced. To his dismay, there was no significant answer since the ship could have broken up upon impact or could have been carried further inland.
Still irritated his two prisoners had escaped; he hoped the Americans would somehow lead him to the treasure trove. Otherwise, he feared he would be leading his own men on nothing more than a wild goose chase. Outwardly, he would never show or voice this fear, but he knew he would have to locate and confront Mercer again if there was any chance at all of recovering the gold. Given the strong outnumbering of men in his favor, he didn’t see any path of resistance towards carrying out his plan.
As the day wore on, the heat became more unbearable and fatigue was setting in with most of the men. This did not persuade Esperanza to desist in his persistence to push onward. As his arm swung down, the machete easily hacked its way through the branches and leaves surrounding him. It was only after a voice called out to him that he finally stopped, much to the relief of the rest of the men.
Vallejos addressed his head of security. “Judging from this map, we aren’t too far from the town. The ship could have been buried anywhere between here and there.”
“What do you suggest, Andres? We cannot simply start digging up the entire jungle.”
Vallejos answered, “We will start by digging next to where the river was. Maybe we’ll find something promising there. If not, we move to another spot.”
“Mercer and his friend will come looking for this ship,” commented Esperanza. “Why don’t we sit back and wait for them to find it? Then, we can kill them once and for all and take the gold as ours.”
“My dear, Kervin. I admire your ruthlessness. Make no mistake about that. You will have your chance to shed the blood of these men, but you need to see the bigger picture in all of this. Once we have the gold in our hands, you can do what you wish with them. Until then, I need you to remain patient.”
Esperanza didn’t like the idea of having to wait for anything, but he knew obeying his superior was the only course of action. Swallowing his pride, he was about to respond when he was suddenly distracted by the humming of a jet engine that seemed to be drawing closer from above. Vallejos was also intrigued, and they looked up just as a jet buzzed over their heads.
Unable to discern any identifiable markings on the aircraft, they shrugged it off and continued on with their conversation. A few minutes later, they heard the same loud humming getting closer. Within seconds, the plane flew overhead and disappeared once again.
This continued frequently for the next hour as they tried to get a fix on exactly what the plane was doing. They made their way to a large field which was about fifty yards wide. From this vantage point, they hoped to get a better look at the plane that seemed to be circling above.
They didn’t have to wait long for the next pass of the aircraft. Within a minute, they finally witnessed what had puzzled them for over an hour. This time, Vallejos was able to get a look at the markings on the tail section of the aircraft before it disappeared again. He was not as shocked as he initially thought he would be when he saw the letters on the plane. In big, bold blue letters, it read, NESA.
***
The pilot was preparing to make another pass over the terrain. Hunt, Mercer, and Vigil were studying the gravimeter’s readings, which so far had revealed very little in the way of promising news. Mercer went over to a seat and looked out the window. Peering down into the forest, he wondered if they would ever find the remains of the ship or the gold.
The leaves of the trees seemed to blanket the surrounding area in a sea of green which vanished off into the horizon. The mystery of this place had enthralled him and he found himself growing anxious at the thought of never finding the gold. It wasn’t out of greed that he sought the treasure, but instead for the reason he knew what Vallejos would do with it if he came into possession of it. The treasure belonged in the hands of someone who would handle it responsibly, and not in the hands of a sadistic madman, he thought.
The day had been filled with tedious flyovers of the area trying to locate any mas
s large enough underground that could be what they were looking for. The gravimeter’s strength to penetrate the earth’s crust was an important part of the role in its detection devices, but the mirror array could only scan an area about fifty yards wide at a time. This meant that numerous paths would need to be crossed in an attempt to correctly identify a source.
Following the direction the volcanic blast would have taken, the flight path had taken them just about a mile and a half away from where the riverbed originally laid. With no sign they were any closer to finding what they were searching for, Mercer and Vigil were beginning to grow restless. Hunt, on the other hand, showed no sign of wavering in his determination to find the ship and the lost treasure.
Mercer joined him near the gravimeter. “What do you think, Colonel?”
“I think we just need to continue being patient. The gold is out there and we will find it.”
Vigil stood up to stretch his arms and legs. “Sir, with all due respect, it may be out there, but it could be scattered over five miles of jungle. That ship was probably shattered into a million pieces when the blast hit it.”
Hunt replied, “Sometimes a little faith is needed, Pat. I need to go have a little chat with the pilot. I‘ll be right back”
Vigil knew that if the lost gold was to be found, then Hunt was the man who could do it. There had yet to be a challenge the spunky Colonel backed down from or couldn’t accomplish, and there was no reason to start doubting that perseverance now. He sat back down, popped his feet up on the table and closed his eyes to get a little rest while the search continued. By the time Hunt returned from the cockpit, he was sound asleep and snoring.
Mercer was looking over the gravimeter's readings. “He’s like a bear during hibernation, isn’t he?”
“I don’t think bears snore that loud,” retorted Hunt.
“What did the pilot say?”
“I told him we would do a few more passes and then call it a day. We can come back out first thing in the morning. It’s not like the gold is going anywhere.”
After a few more turns, the pilot made preparations to return to the airstrip. Just as they were banking to head back, something caught Mercer’s eye. The gravimeter’s readings suddenly picked something up. It didn’t look like much, but it was more than they had seen all day. He called Hunt over to take a look.
“Could be nothing, sir. The detector picked up on something, but it’s nowhere near the size of what we’re looking for.”
Hunt looked at the reading with curiosity. “I’ll have the pilot do one more flyover just to be sure.”
As the jet flew back over the area, they huddled over the gravimeter and watched with great interest to see if any strong readings would come from this pass. Reaching the point where the last ping came from, they stared at the readings as the blip on their screen grew larger and larger.
Looking at each other, they smiled as they knew the reading was large enough to be only one thing.
“We found it!” Mercer could hardly contain his excitement. “I can’t believe we actually found it!”
Unable to control the emotion of the moment, he grabbed Hunt and hugged him. Both men shared a laugh as Vigil suddenly awoke, seeing his two friends in a warm embrace. Unsure of what to say, he got up and looked at the gravimeter.
“What’s all this?”
Hunt, still smiling like a child in an ice cream store, replied, “That, my dear Pat, is the faith I was telling you about.”
23
The atmosphere in the hotel room was one of celebration and relief. Mercer grabbed a few beers from the fridge and gave one each to Vigil and Hunt.
While handing out the beverages, he commented, “I guess the only thing to do now is figure out how we get ten thousand pounds of gold out of the jungle without being noticed.”
“Well, there is that,” said Vigil. “But, it’s also the company we’re going to have while we try to do it.”
“I was thinking about that too. And I think I have an idea.”
Hunt looked up. “I’m all ears.”
“There’s no way Vallejos is going to find the gold unless he digs up the entire countryside, which we all know he’s incapable of doing. He may be out there looking for it, but he also may just be biding his time waiting for us to find it.”
“And then?” Hunt curiously asked.
“And then,” Mercer stated, “He’ll probably try and kill us and take the gold for himself.”
Vigil took a swig of beer. “Well, I for one do not like that option. What’s rattling inside your brain, buddy?”
Mercer thought for a quick moment before responding. “Colonel, you take the team and start digging for the gold. It’s about two miles away from where the cartel is searching, so that buys us some time. In the meantime, Pat and I will head further south and set up a dummy digging site and we can draw them to us. That’ll give you more time to dig.”
Vigil tilted his head with a confused look in his eyes. “So just to be clear, you want the entire Nicaraguan cartel to descend upon us? Just us? And nobody else?”
“That’s pretty much the gist of it, yeah.”
Vigil slowly nodded his head and clapped his hands together. “Well, I don’t really see how that’s fair to the cartel, but I’m in.”
Hunt smiled at the comment, but knew the severe risk his men were putting themselves in.
“Sean, I can’t ask you to do that. We’ll get the gold. There’s no reason for you and Pat to be put so blatantly in harm's way.”
“Sir, Pat and I have fought our way through thousands of insurgents in Iraq. Those were trained soldiers. These are just thugs with guns who have minimal training. We can handle ourselves. We’ll be heavily armed and we’ll have a strong perimeter set up. I didn’t make this decision lightly or without thinking it through.”
Hunt contemplated the statement. “I have no doubt you’ve thought this out, Sean. Let me know what you need and you’ll get it.”
“Just get to the gold. We’ll handle the rest.”
Hunt acknowledged with a nod and stood up. “On that note, it’s time for me to retire, gentlemen. I’ll meet you at the airstrip in the morning. There will be a Jeep ready for you with all the equipment you need. Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, we dig.”
They exchanged goodnights and Hunt departed, leaving Mercer and Vigil to discuss the plans of their operation. For well over an hour, they discussed what course of action they would take if any number of scenarios came about. In the back of their minds, they knew there was no way to plan for the unexpected, but they were also well versed in the art of combat and knew they could handle themselves in the toughest of situations.
Vigil decided he had engaged in enough serious conversation for the night. “Remember that night we got back to the States from Iraq?”
Mercer smiled. “How could I forget? We got off the plane with those two stewardesses and tore up the town.”
“Yeah. What a night, huh? I think I was hung over for two days after that. Why did you let me drink so much?”
Mercer smiled. “As I recall, you didn’t turn down one drink I offered you that night. And besides, you earned it after what you did for me.”
Vigil returned the smile. “The only thing I did for you, my friend, was to let you have the hotter stewardess that night.”
Mercer knew his friend wouldn’t be humbled outwardly, but there was an unspoken bond created from the incident that took place leading up to their dismissal from the Army. He would never be able to repay the debt for what happened in Iraq, and he knew his friend wasn’t the type to make a big deal out of what he had done. But, he also knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if the circumstance arose.
“Don’t worry, big guy. Your secret is safe with me.”
“What secret?” asked Vigil.
“You know… the one that tells everyone what a big softy you are.”
They shared a few more beers before turning in for the night. Mercer grabbed a set
of headphones out of his bag and placed them over his ears, knowing the sound of music would be more soothing to fall asleep to than the loud grumblings and snoring of his friend.
***
Vallejos and Esperanza returned to the compound in order to gather some additional Intel after the day's events. Geovany Rojas was also waiting with information about the NESA jet they had seen hovering over the area while out on their reconnaissance mission.
The portly gentleman began the conversation. “One of the clerks at the hotel did a bit of eavesdropping outside their door and he overheard talk about a recent find. It would appear they have indeed found what seems to be a large underground mass. There can only be one thing large enough to satisfy their curiosities out in the middle of nowhere.”
Vallejos took it all in. “Very well, then. At least we don’t have to spend countless hours looking for it ourselves anymore. It appears they have done all of the work for us. You have done well, Geovany. Now please, get some rest. I will be in touch soon.” Rojas showed himself out, while Esperanza stayed behind.
Noticing an eerie look in the eye of his employer, he asked, “What do we do now, Andres?”
“Now….we let them dig up the gold. Then we kill them and take it for ourselves.”
Vallejos stared out the window while he considered possible courses of action to take. Unable to fully concentrate, he decided to take a walk.
“I will return shortly, Kervin. Until then, stay close by.”
Esperanza nodded in acknowledgement and retreated to his quarters to devise a plan of his own.