“I wish there was another way,” said Dr. Morgan. “He is a likable enough kid.”
“I won’t disagree with you, but it is what it is.”
Dr. Morgan shook his head in agreement.
“I think we had better double up the surveillance going forward. I don’t want him disappearing on us.”
The general called in the captain who was currently in charge of Chaco’s security and laid out the procedure he wanted going forward.
The next morning Chaco answered his door and there were two soldiers instead of one accompanying him to the briefing. Also Chaco noticed several other soldiers in the hallways and adjoining rooms with no particular purpose…..just hanging around.
Pretty soon they’ll have me bound and gagged anytime I’m not in my room, he thought.
There wasn’t a moment for the next four hours that at least three soldiers weren’t monitoring Chaco’s every move. When Chaco wanted to go to the commissary in the early afternoon, it was like he was going out on a date with the general’s daughter.
“That won’t be possible today,” said the captain.
“What do you mean it won’t be possible? How about starting tomorrow it won’t be possible for me to help your scientists all day long? How does that sound?”
The captain called someone on the phone and then responded back to Chaco. “We can go to the commissary. It’ll be just a couple of minutes before we can leave.”
When they left there were four soldiers accompanying Chaco to the commissary.
“I must be awfully important to get all of this attention,” he smiled at the captain.
The captain didn’t respond.
When they got to the commissary it was obvious that several of the soldiers in the hallway were watching Chaco. He counted a total of at least ten men watching him as he walked through the commissary. Chaco estimated how far he would have to run to get to the dead space and whether he had a chance to make it. One of the soldiers was about twenty feet from the dead space and would pose the most serious problem.
When Chaco came out the front door of the commissary he bent down to tie his shoe, setting his grocery bag on the floor. He tied his shoe and as he stood up he tossed the bag of groceries toward the nearest soldier and in the same breath made a run for it directly away from where he wanted to go. The soldiers moved in quickly to grab him. At the last moment Chaco reversed direction and went the other way throwing most of the soldiers off guard. He only had one more soldier to get by who was waiting for him. Chaco tried faking one way and then another but the guy wouldn’t fall for it.
He grabbed Chaco by the arm.
Chaco tried to squirm away but the guy was too strong and the others would be there in a matter of seconds. Chaco lifted his arm above his head and in a spinning move ducked under the soldier and clipped his legs out from under him.
He was free and he ran like the devil for the dead space. He tried to locate the opening to the dead space as he approached but it was hard to focus. Luckily, he stumbled across the opening straightaway. The dead space was on the opposite side of the phone booth and the soldiers didn’t see him when he slipped through the opening and into safety.
As the soldiers searched the area around the phone booth they realized Chaco had vanished into thin air.
The captain arrived and knew exactly what was going on. He questioned each of the soldiers as to what they had seen and narrowed down the probable area where Chaco had disappeared. He had them cordon off the area and left two soldiers on guard to make sure that Chaco didn’t leave.
The captain called General Mortenson who couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Within fifteen minutes Dr. Gordon arrived with two other scientists.
After an hour of searching the area the commissary was closed for the rest of the day.
Chaco sat in the dead space for another hour waiting for a chance to escape. He would get close to the dead space wall and look out every so often. There were more people around each time he looked and then he heard Dr. Morgan and General Mortenson talking. They were going to wait him out.
Chaco took a roll of string from his pocket that he had bought at the commissary. He laid the end of the string near the entrance to the dead space. He would back away from the entrance for ten feet and then twenty feet and each time come back to the end of the string. It worked. The next time he went fifty feet and then came back. He was finding that it was pitch-black after he got about thirty feet away. His string was a hundred feet long and this time he was going to the end of it. He thought about going back but decided to continue onward. At the end of the string nothing had changed. It was pitch-black and downright scary. Chaco sat down and tried to think through what his options might be.
“They’ll never let me go home if I go back,” he exclaimed. “I have no idea what happens if I get lost in here. Are there other ways out besides the original entry like the scientists were saying?”
He was sitting there thinking when his questions were surprisingly answered by Anchutepa, the great traveler, when he told Chaco that he must always go forward and never look back.
Chaco got up and rolled the string into a ball. He couldn’t go back now. He started walking again hoping to stay in a straight line. He had read once that when a person has no point of reference he will tend to walk in a circle always curving toward the side of his predominant hand.
Everything remained pitch-black for a long time until his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. It was a strange darkness. His eyes started seeing shapes and before long he thought he saw a slight change in the darkness. He moved toward that area. It seemed like he walked a long way before reaching it. It was different somehow.
Chaco moved forward until all of the sudden he saw something shocking. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was the bank! He was near the same desk where he originally hid before opening the vault.
How can I be here? The military base has to be over fifty miles away and I only came a few hundred yards since I entered the dead space. It doesn’t make any sense and besides I can’t go out there, they’ll throw me in jail again. Do I keep wandering in the dead space?
Chaco contemplated the idea and then said, “I don’t think so. This might be my only chance.”
Chapter 75
Chaco could see someone sitting at the desk near the dead space. Finally, he left his desk and Chaco quickly slipped out. He could see the same guard who had questioned him a few days earlier on the other side of the room near the door.
He saw the water fountain nearby with an empty water container sitting on the floor. Chaco walked over and lifted it up to his shoulder. He positioned the container on his right side so that the guard and hopefully none of the cameras could see his face. As he crossed the room he tossed three gold coins, which the military had let him keep when they took him into custody, toward the middle of the room. They hit the floor and started rolling. He was almost to the door when the guard stopped him and asked what he was doing.
“Just replacing the container with a new one,” said Chaco.
In the next instant a commotion developed in the middle of the bank as a couple of people seemed to be fighting over something.
The guard’s attention diverted away from Chaco and he walked out the door a free man. He left the container near the front door and took off. Chaco ran several blocks until he came to his hiding place and found the gold he had hidden for Maria. He hurried to a phone booth and called the restaurant.
Maria answered the phone.
“Maria, this is Chaco. I need to see you.”
“Hold on a second, Chaco.” She came back on quickly. “Remember where we used to walk in the park for our breaks. I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes. I’m walking pretty slowly right now.”
“Maria, I need to ask for help. I need enough money for a plane ticket to Peru. Can you help me?”
“Of course I will help you, Chaco. How much do you need?”
“I t
hink it could be as much as two thousand dollars.”
“My bank is nearby and I will bring the money. Make it forty-five minutes and I’ll see you then.”
Maria and Chaco were ecstatic when they met and gave each other a tearful hug. They talked briefly and then she gave him the two thousand dollars.
“I hope you get home safely. Franco and Eduardo love you like a brother. If you ever need any more help, just call us.” Maria gave him another hug and Chaco turned to leave and then remembered what he had brought her.
“Here is something special for you. It is a little heavy and you’ll have to open it later when you are alone.” Chaco gave her the backpack. “Goodbye Maria, I hope I see you again.” He turned and hurried off.
Maria got back to the restaurant and went into the bathroom before she started work. She opened the backpack and reached her hand in to discover handfuls of gold coins. Tears swelled up in her eyes when she thought of Chaco.
***
A couple hours later Chaco was able to book the last seat on a flight to Lima leaving at midnight. It cost him almost all of the two thousand but he didn’t mind. Just the thought of going home and being left alone was all he wanted.
Dr. Ortiz received a phone call almost immediately after Chaco booked a flight on Peruvian Airlines and he would be arriving tomorrow morning.
The ticket agent didn’t bother to tell Dr. Ortiz that he also called the local TV stations in Peru and told them as well. Chaco had become a celebrity in Peru and it was only fitting that the public be informed.
Dr. Ortiz seldom watched TV and wasn’t aware that Chaco’s arrival was being telecast on the evening news. When Dr. Ortiz and his men arrived at the airport the next morning he couldn’t understand why there were so many people gathered. As he waited for the flight to arrive he picked up a newspaper and the headline glared at him… CHACO RETURNS HOME A HERO TO PERU. He threw the paper down and realized that his job just got a whole lot harder.
***
The next morning the U.S. military couldn’t believe what they were hearing…..Chaco had escaped from the commissary and was now in Peru. General Mortenson was shocked that Chaco was able to buy an airline ticket without airport security detaining him. They had to have him back. Orders were sent to the CIA to abduct Chaco at all costs. The gears were in motion and the military wouldn’t rest until they captured him.
Chapter 76
Chaco was one of the last passengers to walk off the plane, but when he did the screams and applause were deafening. Chaco looked about trying to figure out what was going on.
He had hardly taken two steps into the waiting area when a newsman pushed a microphone in his face and asked, “How does it feel to come home to Peru a hero?”
“Did you say hero?”
“That’s what I said. While you were gone Peru fell in love with you.”
“Why?”
“You’re amazing. You really have no idea, Chaco?”
“None.”
The people cheered even louder and the newsman’s voice faded away.
It was then that Chaco saw Dr. Ortiz and his two thugs pushing through the crowd.
“I’ve got to go,” said Chaco as he tried to run in the opposite direction.
He wasn’t having much success when Dr. Ortiz caught up with him and Sanchez grabbed his arm.
“Let me go!” screamed Chaco. His voice could be heard above the crowd’s screaming.
A policeman pushed forward through the crowd, “What’s going on here?”
Sanchez released Chaco’s arm, and he and Ortiz quickly mingled back into the crowd.
“Someone grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.”
“Don’t worry son. I’ll escort you out of here.”
Chaco followed the policeman from the waiting area with the crowd in tow. When they got outside the policeman wanted him to get into the police car. Chaco had second thoughts and declined the ride when the policeman began to get insistent. It was at that moment Chaco ran off into the crowd.
The crowd pushed him along until he fled down an alley and vanished. He wove his way through the back streets of Lima and eventually found a cheap hotel. He bolted the door to his room, pushed a chair against the door for safety and collapsed on the bed.
Chaco was back in Peru but he was still a long way from being safe.
Chapter 77
The next morning Chaco sat on the edge of the bed and read an old newspaper sitting on the night stand. The front page was all about Atruca. Chaco read the entire article and then threw the paper down. His heart was overwhelmed with grief.
Suddenly, he experienced an uncontrollable urge to go to Atruca, which was located on the other side of Lima near the slums. Tens of thousands of his fellow Inca had been murdered and quickly buried in Atruca and now their bodies were being desecrated by thieves and the greed of the capitalist pigs who wanted to develop this sacred ground. He lost complete control of himself and ripped the chair away from the door and marched from the hotel.
He walked for hours across Lima until he finally came upon a hillside overlooking the gravesite. In an instant, his mind experienced the death of those tens of thousands of Inca that had died hundreds of years earlier. The grief and resurgence of life passed through Chaco in a matter of seconds.
He ran down the hill screaming at the top of his voice, “Nooooo!”
Bulldozers were digging into the ground and skeletal remains could be seen everywhere.
Chaco ran in front of the first bulldozer he came upon, stopped and refused to move. They had no right to disturb the dead.
The driver stopped his bulldozer and screamed, “Get out of the way you damn fool. You have ten seconds.”
After ten seconds he revved his engine, shifted the bulldozer into gear and moved forward.
Chaco stared at the humongous machine approaching him. What can I do?
He sat down in front of the bulldozer waiting for his own death.
The bulldozer kept coming forward.
With inches to spare the driver stopped.
Chaco bowed his head, reached his hand out and touched the blade.
Several people came running forward to see what was going on.
Chaco stood up and reached his arms toward the sky and sang out to Inti, the Sun God, in a wonderful royal Quechuan voice. “Oh great Inti, please inspire those around me to stop this desecration of all who went before us. Incans must come forward and stop this horrendous endeavor.
A news crew that had been filming a nearby ground-breaking ceremony for a new office building came running over to see what was happening. The cameraman swung his camera around in time to catch Chaco saying his prayer to the Sun God.
Minutes later the security guards dragged Chaco off to jail and the bulldozers continued with their work.
It was assumed in Peru that only a couple thousand Inca still remained. The Spanish had either murdered or brought deadly disease to most of the Inca and they had long ago died.
During the night people began showing up at the Atruca gravesite, a few cars full of people at first and then a bus load or two. They spread out across the death fields ready to sacrifice themselves for Chaco, the Sapa Inca. By morning the few thousands had grown to tens of thousands and the throngs of people were lined up miles away walking toward Atruca.
God had called and they were answering.
Also during the night the local news crews heard about the thousands showing up at the gravesite and began carrying the scene live on TV to the people of Lima. The next morning most major news outlets in America were carrying feeds from Lima on their morning news shows.
In general the people arriving were not Inca but something in their ancient past was calling to them. Because of Atruca’s location in relation to the slums of Lima, many of the poor with little to keep them going had found a champion. They marched onto the gravesite and sat amongst the Inca ruins and began chanting for the Sun God’s messenger to be released from prison and come to them.
The mayor of Lima refused to release Chaco until early the next afternoon when the Sun God worshippers had reached several hundred thousand strong. They weren’t Inca but Inca was a part of Peru.
Chaco was to be taken to the gravesite and he was told that if he didn’t get these people to leave he would be sent to prison for years. Chaco refused to respond to the threat by the mayor and before long the president of Peru stepped in and ordered Chaco to be released.
The word spread that the Sun God’s messenger was released and would be at Atruca shortly.
The crowd started screaming when they saw an important looking car approaching the field. When a teenage boy got out of the car the crowd went crazy. Chaco didn’t understand what was going on.
The crowd pushed forward waiting to hear him talk.
Chaco was given a portable microphone to talk into. With a voice that only a god could possess he called out to the people of Lima to stand firm and demand that this sacred ground be made a national monument to the Inca.
Unexpectedly, a car came up behind Chaco. Several policemen jumped out, grabbed Chaco, threw him into the back of the car and tried to drive off. The crowd swarmed the vehicle and began beating on the roof with their fists. Several men began rocking the vehicle.
Inside the car the police lieutenant screamed, “Get us out of here.” The driver was hesitant and the lieutenant screamed again, “Run over them if they don’t move.”
The car started moving forward, slowly at first, just pushing people out of the way. When a wave of people engulfed the car, the driver panicked and hit the accelerator. Several people were brutally thrown away from the car but those poor misfortunate ones in front of the car were mowed down.
The crowd overwhelmed the vehicle, shattering the windows and pulling the occupants out. Chaco was hoisted onto the crowd’s shoulders and carried away. The cops were beaten severely.
Within the Dead Space Page 23