The Vivero Letter

by Desmond Bagley

'Don't try to pull that on me.' he said savagely. 'What were you doing with her down at the pool three days ago?'

  'If you want to know, we were having a flaming row,' I said 'But why don't you ask her?' He was silent at that, and looked at me hard. 'But, of course, you did ask her, didn't you? You asked her with your fist. Why don't you try asking me that way, Halstead? With your fists or with that oversized carving knife you have there? But watch it -- you can get hurt.'

  For a moment I thought he was going to pull the machete and cleave my skull, and my fingers closed around one of the stones that Fallon used to weigh the maps on the table. At last he expelled his breath in a whistling sound and he thrust home the machete into its sheath the half inch he had withdrawn it. 'Just stay away from her,' he said hoarsely. 'That's all.'

  He shouldered past me and left the hut to disappear into the blinding sunlight outside. Then came the sudden rhythmical roar from the chopper and it took off, and the sound faded quickly as it went over the trees, just as it always did.

  I leaned against the table and felt the sweat break out on my forehead and at the back of my neck. I looked at my hands. They were trembling uncontrollably, and when I turned them over I saw the palms were wet. What the flaming hell was I doing in a set-up like this? And what had possessed me to push at Halstead so hard? The man was obviously a little loose in the brainbox and he could very well have cut me down with that damned machete. I had a sudden feeling that this whole operation was sending me as crazy as he obviously was.

  I pushed myself away from the table and walked outside. There was no one to be seen. I strode over to the Halsteads' hut and knocked on the door. There was no reply, so I knocked again, and Katherine called, 'Who is it?'

  'Who were you expecting? It's Jemmy, damn it!'

  'I don't want to talk to you.'

  'You don't have to,' I said. 'All you have to do Is listen. Open the door.'

  There was a long pause and then a click as the door opened not too widely. She didn't look very well and there were dark smudges below her eyes. I leaned on the door and swung it open wider. 'You said you could control your husband,' I said. 'You'd better start hauling on the reins because he seems to think that you and I are having a passionate affair.'

  'I know,' she said tonelessly.

  I nodded. 'You know, of course. I wonder how he could have got that impression? You couldn't have led him on a bit -- some women do.'

  She flared. 'That's a despicable thing to say.'

  'Very likely it is; I'm not feeling too spicable right now. That nutty husband of yours and I nearly had a fight not five minutes ago.'

  She looked alarmed. 'Where is he?'

  'Where do you think he is? He's gone with Fallon in the chopper, Look, Katherine; I'm not too sure that Paul shouldn't pull out of this expedition.'

  'Oh, no,' she said quickly. 'You couldn't do that.'

  'I could -- and I will -- if he doesn't bloody well behave himself. Even Rider is threatening to hammer him. You know that he is only here because of my say-so; that I forced him down Fallon's throat. One word from me and Fallon will be only too glad to get rid of him.'

  She grabbed my hand. 'Oh, please, Jemmy; please don't do that.'

  'Get up off your knees,' I said. 'Why the hell should you have to plead for him? I told you a long time ago, back in England, that you can't apologize for another person -- not even your husband.' She was looking very blue, so I said, 'All right, I wont push him out -- but see that he stays off my neck.'

  'I'll try,' she said. 'I really will try. Thanks, Jemmy.'

  I blew out my cheeks. 'If I'm accused of it, and if I'm going to get into a fight because of it, this passionate affair might not be such a bad idea. At least I'll get myself half-killed because of something I did.'

  She stiffened. 'I don't mink that's funny.'

  'Neither do I,' I said wearily. 'With me the girl has to be willing -- and you're not exactly panting hotly down the back of my neck. Forget it. Consider I made a pass and got slapped down. But, Katherine, how you stand that character, I don't know.'

  'Maybe it's something you wouldn't understand.'

  'Love?' I shrugged. 'Or is it misplaced loyalty? But if I were a woman -- and thank God I'm not -- and a man hit me, I'd walk right out on him.'

  Pink spots showed in her cheeks. 'I don't know what you mean.'

  I lifted a finger and smoothed down her collar. 'I suppose you got that bruise walking into a door,'

  She said hotly, 'How I get my bruises is none of your damned business.'

  The door slammed in my face.

  I contemplated the sun-seared woodwork for quite a while, then sighed and turned away. I went back to the big hut and opened the refrigerator and looked at the serried rows of beer cans, all nicely frosted. Then I slammed it shut and went into Fallon's hut where I confiscated a bottle of his best Glenlivet whisky. I needed something stronger than beer right then.

  An hour later I heard the chopper coming back. It landed and taxied into the hangar and out of the sun and, from where I was sitting, I could see Rider refuelling and I heard the rhythmic clank of the hand pump. I suppose I should have gone to help him but I didn't feel like helping anyone, and after three stiff whiskies the idea of going into the sun struck me as being definitely unwise.

  Presently Rider came into the hut. 'Hot!' he said, stating the obvious.

  I looked up at him. 'Where are the brains?'

  'I dropped them at the site. I'll go back in four hours to pick them up.' He sat down and I pushed the whisky bottle at him. He shook his head. 'Uh-uh -- that's too strong for this time of day. I'll get me a cold beer.'

  He stood up, got his beer, and came back to the table. 'Where's Mrs. Halstead?'

  'Sulking in her tent.'

  He frowned at that, but his brow cleared as he drank his beer. 'Ah, that's good!' he sat down. 'Say, what happened between you and Halstead? When he climbed into the chopper he looked as though someone had rammed a pineapple up his ass.'

  'Let's say we had a slight altercation.'

  'Oh!' He pulled a pack of cards from' his shirt pocket and and .riffled them. 'What about a game to pass the time?'

  'What would you suggest?' I enquired acidly. 'Happy Families!'

  He grinned. 'Can you play gin?'

  He beat the pants off me.

  II

  There was nothing at the site. Fallon came back looking tired and drawn and I thought that his years were catching up with him. The forest of Quintana Roo was no place for a man in his sixties, or even for a man in his thirties as I had recently discovered. I had taken a machete and done a bit of exploring and I hadn't left the clearing for more than ten minutes before I was totally lost. It was only because I had die sense to take a compass and to make slash marks on trees chat I managed to get back.

  I gave him a glass of his own whisky which he accepted with appreciation. His clothes were torn and blood caked cuts in his hands. I said, 'I'll get the first-aid kit and clean that up for you.'

  He nodded tiredly. As I cleaned the scratches, I said, 'You ought to leave the dirty work to Halstead.'

  'He works hard enough,' said Fallon. 'He's done more than me today.'

  'Where is he?'

  'Getting cleaned up. I suppose Katherine is doing the same to him as you've done to me.' He flexed his fingers against the adhesive dressings. 'It's better when a woman does it, somehow. I remember my wife bandaging me up quite often.'

  'I didn't know you are married.'

  'I was. Very happily married. That was many years ago.' He opened his eyes. 'What happened between you and Halstead this morning?'

  'A difference of opinion.'

  'It often happens with that young man, but it's usually of a professional nature. This wasn't, was it?'

  'No, it wasn't,' I said. 'It was personal and private.'

  He caught the implication -- that I was warning him off -- and chose to ignore it. 'For anyone to interfere between man and wife is very serious,' he said.


  I drove the cork into the bottle of antiseptic. 'I'm not interfering; Halstead just thinks I am.'

  'I have your word for that?'

  'You have my word -- not that it's any business of yours,' I said. As soon as I had said it I was sorry. 'It is your business, of course; you don't want this expedition wrecked.'

  'That wasn't in my mind,' he said. 'At least, not as far as you are concerned. But I am becoming perturbed about Paul; he is proving very awkward to work with. I was wondering if I could ask you to release me from my promise. It's entirely up to you.'

  I pounded at the cork again. I had just promised Katherine that I wouldn't get Halstead tossed out on his ear, and I couldn't go back on that. 'No,' I said. 'Other promises have been made.'

  'I understand,' said Fallon. 'Or, at least, I mink I do.' He looked up at me. 'Don't make a fool of yourself, Jemmy.'

  That piece of advice was coming a bit too late. I grinned and put down me antiseptic bottle. 'It's all right; I'm not a home wrecker. But Halstead had better watch himself or hell be in trouble.'

  'Pour me another whisky,' said Fallon. He picked up the antiseptic bottle, and said mildly, 'We're going to have trouble getting that cork out again,'

  The Halsteads had another quarrel that night. Neither of them appeared for supper and, after dark, I listened to the raised voices coming from their hut, rising and falling but never distinguishable enough to make sense. Just raw anger coming from the darkness.

  I half expected Halstead to stomp over to my hut and challenge me to a duel, but he didn't and I thought that maybe Katherine must have argued him out of it. More probably, the argument I had put up had a lot of weight behind it. Halstead couldn't afford to be ejected from the expedition at this stage. It might be a good idea to pass on Fallen's attitude to Katherine just to make sure that Halstead realized that I was the only person who could prevent it.

  As I went to sleep it occurred to me that if we did find Uaxuanoc I'd better start guarding my back.

  III

  Four days later there was only one site to be investigated. Fourteen out of the fifteen in Fallon's original list had proved to be barren; if this last one proved a bust then we would have to extend our radius of exploration and take in another forty-seven sites. That would be a bind, to say the least of it. We had an early-morning conference before the last site was checked and nobody was happy about it. The cenote lay below a ridge which was thickly covered in trees and Rider was worried about the problem of getting in while coping with air currents. Worse still, there was no possible place for a man to drop from the winch; the vegetation was thick and extended right to the edge of the cenote without thinning in any way.

  Fallon studied the photographs and said despondently, This is the worst I've seen anywhere. I don't think there's a chance of getting in from the air. What do you think, Rider?'

  'I can drop a man,' said Rider. 'But he'd probably break his neck. Those trees are running to 140 feet and tangled to hell. I don't think a man could reach the ground.'

  The forest primeval,' I commented.

  'No,' contradicted Fallon. 'If it were, our work would be easier. All this ground has been cultivated at one time -- all over Quintana Roo. What we have here is a second growth; that's why it's so goddamn thick.' He switched off the projector and walked over to the photo-mosaic. 'It's very thick for a long way around this cenote -- which is archeologically promising but doesn't help us in getting in.' He laid his finger on the photograph. 'Could you put us down there, Rider?'

  Rider inspected the point Fallon indicated, first with the naked eye and then through a magnifying glass. 'It's possible,' he said.

  Fallon applied a ruler. Three miles from the cenote. In that stuff we couldn't do more than half a mile an hour -- probably much less. Say a full day to get to the cenote. Well, if it must be done, we'll do it.' He didn't sound at all enthusiastic.

  Halstead said, 'We can use Wheale now. Are you good with a machete, Wheale?' He just couldn't get out of the habit of needling me.

  'I don't have to be good,' I said. 'I use my brains instead. Let me have another look at those photographs.'

  Fallon switched on the projector and we ran through them again. I stopped at the best one which showed a very clear view of the cenote and the surrounding forest. 'Can you get down over the water?' I asked Rider.

  'I guess I could,' said Rider. 'But not for long. It's goddamn close to that hillside at the back of the pool.'

  I turned to Fallon. 'How did you make this clearing we have here?'

  'We dropped a team in with power saws and flame-throwers,' he said. They burned away the ground vegetation and cut down the trees -- then blasted out the stumps with gelignite.'

  I stared at the photograph and estimated the height from water-level to the edge of the pit of the cenote. It appeared to be about thirty feet. I said, 'If Rider can drop me in the water. I can swim to the edge and climb out.'

  'So what?' said Halstead. 'What do you do then? Twiddle your thumbs?'

  Then Rider comes in again and lowers a chain saw and a flame-thrower on the end of the winch.'

  Rider shook his head violently. 'I couldn't get them anywhere near you. Those trees on the edge are too tall. Jesus, if I get the winch cable tangled in those I'd crash for sure.'

  'Supposing when I went into the water I had a thin nylon cord, say about a couple of hundred yards, with one end tied to the winch cable. I pay it out as I swim to the side, then you haul up the cable and I pay out some more. Then you take up the chopper, high enough to be out of trouble, and I pay out even more line. When you come down again over the cenote with the stuff dangling on the end of the cable, I just haul it in to the side. Is that possible?'

  Rider looked even more worried. 'Hauling a heavy weight to one side like that is going to have a hell of an effect on stability.' He rubbed his chin. 'I reckon I could do it though.'

  'What would you reckon to do once you got down?' asked Fallon.

  'If Rider will tell me how much clear ground he needs to land the chopper, I'll guarantee to clear it. There might be a few stumps, but he'll be landing vertically, so they shouldn't worry him too much. I'll do it -- unless someone else wants to volunteer. What about you. Dr. Halstead?'

  'Not me,' he said promptly. He looked a bit shamefaced for the first time since I'd met him. 'I can't swim.' Then I'm elected,' I said cheerfully, although why I was cheerful is hard to say. I think it was the chance of actually doing something towards the work of the expedition that did it. I was tired of being a spare part.

  I checked on the operation of the saw and the flame-thrower and saw they were fully fuelled. The flame-thrower produced a satisfactory gout of smoky flame which shrivelled the undergrowth very nicely. 'I'm not likely to start a forest fire, am I?' I asked.

  'Not a chance,' said Fallon. 'You're in a rain forest and these aren't northern conifers.'

  Halstead was coming with me. There was so much weight to be put into the helicopter that there could be only two passengers, and since it was going to be a job for a strongish man to attach the gear to the winch cable and get it out of the helicopter Halstead was chosen in preference to Fallon.

  But I wasn't too happy about it. I said to Rider, 'I know you'll be busy jockeying this chopper at the critical moment, but I'd be obliged if you'd keep half an eye on Halstead.'

  He caught the implication without half trying. 'I operate the winch. You'll get down safely.'

  We took off and were over the site within a very few minutes. I waggled my hand in a circle to Rider and he orbited the cenote at a safe height while I studied the situation. It's one thing to look at photographs on solid ground, and quite another to look at the real thing with the prospect of dangling over it on the end of a line within the next five minutes.

  At last I was satisfied that I knew where to aim for once I was in the water. I checked the nylon cord which was the hope of the whole operation and stepped into the canvas loops at the end of the cable. Rider brought the hel
icopter lower, and I went cautiously through the open door and was only supported by the cable itself.

  The last thing I saw of Rider was his hand pulling on a lever and then I was dropping away below the helicopter and spinning like a teetotum. Every time I made a circuit I saw the green hillside behind the cenote coming closer until it was too damned close altogether and I thought the blades of the rotor were going to chop into projecting branches.

  I was now a long way below the helicopter, as far as the winch cable would unreel, and my rate of spin was slowing. Rider brought the chopper down gently into the chimney formed by the surrounding trees and I touched the water. I hammered the quick-release button and the harness fell away and I found myself swimming. I trod water and organized the nylon cord, then struck out for the edge of the cenote, paying out the cord behind me, until I grasped a tree root at water-level.