The Vivero Letter

by Desmond Bagley

  V

  We flew down to the coast and Camp One early next morning. Halstead had slept on it, but not much, because the connubial argument had gone on long into the night. But she had evidently won because he apologized. It wasn't a very convincing apology and came as haltingly as though it were torn from him by hot pincers, but I judged it politic to accept it. After all. it was the first time in my experience that he had apologized for anything, so perhaps, although it came hesitantly, it was because it was an unaccustomed exercise. Anyway, it was a victory of sorts.

  We landed at Camp One, which seemed to have grown larger in our absence; there were more huts than I remembered. We were met by Joe Rudetsky who had lost some of his easy imperturbability and looked a bit harried. When Fallon asked him what was the matter, he burst into a minor tirade.

  'It's these goddamn poor whites -- these chiclero bastards! They're the biggest lot of thieves I've ever seen. We're losing equipment faster than we can fly it in.'

  'Do you have guards set up?'.

  'Sure -- but my boys ain't happy. You jump one of those chicleros and he takes a shot at you. They're too goddamn trigger-happy and my boys don't like it; they reckon this isn't the job they're paid for.'

  Fallon looked grim. 'Get hold of Pat Harris and tell him to ship in some of his security guards -- the toughest he can find.'

  'Sure, Mr. Fallon, I'll do that.' Rudetsky looked relieved because someone had made a decision. He said, 'I didn't know what to do about shooting back. We thought we might wreck things for you if we got into trouble with the local law.'

  'There isn't much of that around here,' said Fallon, 'If anyone shoots at you, then you shoot right back.'

  'Right!' said Rudetsky. 'Mr. Harris said he'd be coming along today or tomorrow.'

  'Did he?' said Fallon. 'I wonder why.'

  There was a droning noise in the sky and I looked up. That sounds like a plane. Maybe that's him.'

  Rudetsky cocked his head skywards. 'No,' he said. 'That's the plane that's been flying along the coast all week -- it's back and forward all the time.' He pointed. 'See -- there it is.'

  A small twin-engined plane came into sight over the sea and banked to turn over the airstrip. It dipped very low and howled over us with the din of small engines being driven hard. We ducked instinctively, and Rudetsky said, 'It's the first time he's done that.'

  Fallon watched the plane as it climbed and turned out to sea. 'Have you any idea who it is?'

  'No,' said Rudetsky. He paused. 'But I think we're going to find out. It looks as though it's coming in for a landing.'

  Die plane had turned again over the sea and was coming in straight and level right at the strip. It landed with a small bounce and rolled to a stop level with us, and a man climbed out and dropped to the ground. He walked towards us and, as he got nearer, I saw he was wearing tropical whites, spotlessly cleaned and pressed, and an incongruous match to the clothing worn by our little party after the weeks at Camp Two.

  He approached and raised his Panama hat 'Professor Fallon?' he enquired.

  Fallon stepped forward. 'I'm Fallon.'

  The man pumped his hand enthusiastically. 'Am I glad to meet you, Professor! I was in these parts and I thought I'd drop in on you. My name is Gatt -- John Gatt.'

  Eight

  Gatt was a man of about fifty-five and a little overweight. He was as smooth as silk and had the politician's knack of talking a lot and saying nothing. According to him, he had long admired Professor Fallon and had regretted not being able to meet him before. He was in Mexico for the Olympic Games and had taken the opportunity of an excursion to Yucatan to visit the great Mayan cities -- he had been to Uxmal, Chichen Itza and Coba -- and, hearing that the great Professor Fallon was working in the area, he had naturally dropped in to pay his respects and to sit at the feet of genius. He name-dropped like mad -- apparently he knew everyone of consequence in the United States -- and it, soon turned out that he and Fallon had mutual acquaintances.

  It was all very plausible and, as he poured out his smokescreen of words, I became fidgety for fear Fallon would be too direct with him. But Fallon was no fool and played the single-minded archeologist to perfection. He invited Gatt to stay for lunch, which invitation Gatt promptly accepted, and we were all set for a cosy chat.

  As I listened to the conversation of this evidently cultured man I reflected that, but for the knowledge gained through Pat Harris, I could have been taken in completely. It was almost impossible to equate the dark world of drugs, prostitution and extortion with the pleasantly spoken Mr. John Gatt. who talked enthusiastically of the theatre and the ballet and even nicked Fallon for a thousand dollars as a contribution to a fund for underprivileged children. Fallon made out a cheque without cracking a smile -- a tribute to his own acting ability but even more a compliment to the fraudulent image of Gatt.

  I think it was this aura of ambivalence about Gatt thai prevented me from lashing out at him there and then. After all, this was the man who had caused the death of my brother and I ought to have tackled him, but in my mind there lurked the growing feeling that a mistake had been made, that this could not be the thug who controlled a big slice of the American underworld. I ought to have known better. I ought to have remembered that Himmler loved children dearly and that -a man may smile and be a villain. So I did nothing -- which was a pity.

  Another thing which puzzled me about Gatt and which , was a major factor contributing to my indecision was that I couldn't figure out what he was after. I would have thought that his reason for 'dropping in' would be to find out if we had discovered Uaxuanoc, but he never even referred to it. The closest he got to it was when he asked Fallon, 'And what's the subject of your latest research. Professor?'

  'Just cleaning up some loose ends,' said Fallon noncommittally. 'There are some discrepancies in the literature about the dating of certain structures in this area.'

  'Ah. the patient spadework of science,' said Gatt unctuously. 'A never-ending task.' He dropped the subject immediately and went on to say how impressed he had been by the massive architecture of Chichen Itza. 'I have an interest in city planning and urban renewal,' he said. 'The Mayas certainly knew all about pedestrian concourses. I've never seen a finer layout.' I discovered later that his interest in city planning and urban renewal was confined to his activities as a slum landlord and the holding up of city governments to ransom over development plans. It was one of his most profitable sidelines.

  He didn't concentrate primarily on Fallon; he discussed with Halstead. in fairly knowledgeable terms, some aspects of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, and talked with me about England. 'I was in England recently,' he said. 'It's a great country. 'Which part are you from?'

  'Devon.' I said shortly.

  'A very beautiful place,' he said approvingly. 'I remember when I visited Plymouth I stood on the very spot from which the Pilgrim Fathers set sail so many years ago to found our country. It moved me very much.'

  I thought that was a bit thick corning from a man who had started life as Giacomo Gattini. 'Yes, I rather like Plymouth myself.' I said casually, and then sank a barb into him. 'Have you ever been to Totnes?'

  His eyes flickered, but he said smoothly enough, 'I've never had the pleasure.' I stared at him and he turned away and engaged Fallon in conversation again.

  He left soon after lunch, and when his plane had taken off and headed north, I looked at Fallon blankly and said, 'What the devil do you make of that?'

  'I don't know what to make of it,' said Fallon. 'I expected him to ask more questions than he did.'

  'So did I. If we didn't know he was up to something I'd take that visit as being quite above board. Yet we know it wasn't -- he must have been after something. But what was it? And did he get it?'

  'I wish I knew,' said Fallon thoughtfully.

  II

  Pat Harris turned up in the jet during the afternoon and didn't seem surprised that we had had a visit from Gatt. He merely shrugged and went off to have
a private talk with Fallon. but when he came back he was ruffled and exasperated. 'What's wrong with the Old Man?' he asked.

  'Nothing that I know of,' I said. 'He's just the same as always.'

  'Not from where I stand,' said Pat moodily. 'I can't get him to listen to me. All he's concerned with is pushing Rudetsky. Anything I say just bounces off.'

  I smiled. 'He's just made the biggest discovery of his life. He's excited, that's all; he wants to get moving fast before the rains break. What's worrying you, Pat?'

  'What do you think?' he said, staring at me. 'Gatt worries me -- that's who. He's been holed up in Merida, and he's collected the biggest crowd of cut-throats assembled in Mexico since the days of Poncho Villa. He's brought in some of his own boys from Detroit, and borrowed some from connections in Mexico City and Tampico And he's been talking to the chicleros. In my book that means he's going into the forest -- he must have the chicleros to help him there. Now you tell me -- if be goes into the forest, where would he be going?'

  'Camp Three,' I said. 'Uaxuanoc. But there'll be nothing there for him -- just a lot of ruins.'

  'Maybe,' said Pat. 'But Jack evidently thinks differently. The thing that gripes me is that I can't get Fallon to do anything about it -- and it's not like him.'

  'Can't you do anything yourself? What about the authorities -- the police? What about pointing out that there's a big build-up of known criminals in Merida?'

  Pat looked at me pityingly. The fix is in,' he said patiently, as though explaining something to a small child. 'The local law has been soothed.'

  'Bribed!'

  'For Christ's sake, grow up!' he yelled. These local cops aren't as upright as your London bobbies, you know. I did what I could -- and you know what happened? I got tossed in the can on a phoney charge, that's what! I only got out yesterday by greasing the palm of a junior cop who hadn't been lubricated by the top brass. You can write off the law in this part of the world.'

  I took a deep bream. 'Accepting all this -- what the hell would you expect Fallon to do about it?'

  'He has high-level connections in the government; he's well respected in certain circles and can set things going so that the local law is short-circuited. But they're personal connections and he has to do it himself. I don't swing enough weight myself -- I can't reach up that high.'

  'Would it do any good if I talked to him?' I asked. Pat shrugged. 'Maybe.' He shook his head dejectedly. 'I don't know what's got into him. His judgement is usually better man this.'

  So I talked to Fallon and got a fast brush-off. He was talking to Rudetsky at the time, planning the move to Camp Three, and all his attention was on that. 'If you find anything in the preliminary clean-up, don't touch it,' he warned Rudetsky. 'Just leave it and clear round it.'

  'I won't mess around with any stones,' said Rudetsky reassuringly.

  Fallon looked tired and thinner than ever, as though the flesh was being burned from his bones by the fire glowing within him. Every thought he had at that time was directed solely to one end -- the excavation of the city of Uaxuanoc -- and nothing else was of the slightest importance. He listened to me impatiently and then cut me off halfway through a sentence. 'All this is Harris's job,' he said curtly. 'Leave it to him,'

  'But Harris says he can't do anything about it.'

  Then he's not worth the money I'm paying him,' growled . Fallon, and walked away, ignoring me, and plunged again into the welter of preparations for the move to Camp Three.

  I said nothing of this to the Halsteads; there was no point in scaring anyone else to death. But I did have another conversation with Pat Harris before he left to find out what Gatt was doing. I told him of my failure to move Fallon and he smiled grimly at Fallen's comment on his worth, but let it go.

  There's one thing that puzzles me,' he said. 'How in hell did Gatt know when to pitch up here? It's funny that he arrived just as soon as you'd discovered the city.'

  'Coincidence,' I suggested, But Pat was not convinced of that. He made me tell him of everything that had been said and was as puzzled as I had been about Gait's apparent disinterest in the very thing we knew he was after. 'Did Gatt have the chance to talk to anyone alone?' he asked.

  I thought about it and shook my head. 'He was with all of us all the time. We didn't let him wander around by himself, if that's what you mean.'

  'He wasn't alone with anyone not even for a minute?' Pat persisted.

  I hesitated. 'Well, before he went to his plane he shook hands all round.' I frowned. 'Halstead had lagged behind and Gatt went back to shake hands. But it wasn't for long -- not even fifteen seconds.'

  'Halstead, by God!' exclaimed Pat. 'Let me tell you something. You can pass along a hell of a lot of information in a simple handshake. Bear that in mind, Jemmy.'

  With that cryptic remark he left, and I began to go over all the things I knew about Halstead. But it was ridiculous to' suppose he had anything to do with Gatt. Ridiculous!

  III

  Harry Rider was a very busy man during the next few days He flew Rudetsky and a couple of his men to Camp Three at Uaxuanoc, dropped them and came back for equipment Rudetsky and his team hewed a bigger landing area out of the forest, and then the big cargo-carrying helicopter could go in and things really got moving. It was like a well-planned military operation exploiting a beach-head.

  It would have been a big disappointment all round if this wasn't the site of Uaxuanoc, but Fallon showed no worry. He urged Rudetsky on to greater efforts and complacent!} watched the helicopters fly to and fro. The cost of keeping a big helicopter in the air is something fantastic and, although I knew Fallon could afford it, I couldn't help but point it out Fallon drew his pipe from his mouth and laughed. 'Damn it, you're an accountant,' he said. 'Use your brains. It would cost a lot more if I didn't use those choppers. I have to pay a lot of highly skilled men a lot of money to clear that site for preliminary investigation, and I'm damned if I'm going to pay them for hacking their way through the forest to get to the site. It's cheaper this way.'

  And so it was from a. cost-effectiveness point of view, as I found out when I did a brief analysis. Fallon wasn't wasting his money on that score, although some people might think that the excavation of a long-dead city was a waste of money in the first place.

  Four more archeologists arrived -- young men chock-full' of enthusiasm. For three of them this was their first experience of a big dig and they fairly worshipped at the feet of Fallon although I noticed they all tended to walk stiff-legged around Halstead. If his notoriety had spread down to the lower ranks of the profession then he was indeed in a bad way. I'm surprised Katherine didn't see it. although she probably put it down to the general effect of his prickly character on other people. But what a hell of a thing to have to live with!

  Ten days after Fallon had made the big decision we went up to Camp Three and, circling over the cenote, I looked down upon a transformed scene quite different from what I had seen when dangling on the end of that cable. There was. a little village down there -- the huts were laid out in neat lines and there was a landing area to one side with hangars for the aircraft. All this had been chopped out of dense forest, in just over a week; Rudetsky was evidently something of a slave driver.

  We landed and, as the rotor flapped into silence, I heard the howl of power saws from near by as the assault on the forest went on. And it was hot -- hotter even than Camp Two; the sun, unshielded by the cover of trees, hammered the clearing with a brazen glare. Perspiration sprang out all over my body and by the time we had reached the shelter of a hut I was dripping.

  Fallon wasted no time. This is not a very comfortable place,' he said. 'So we might as well get on with the job as quickly as we can. Our immediate aim is to find out what we have here in broad detail. The finer points will have to wait for the years to come. I don't intend to excavate any particular buildings at this time. Our work now is to delimit the area, to identify structures and to clear the ground for our successors.'

  Halstead s
tirred and I could see he wasn't happy about that, but he said nothing.

  '.Joe Rudetsky has been here for nearly two weeks,' said Fallon. 'What have you found, Joe?'

  'I found eight more of those pillars with carvings,' said Rudetsky. 'I did like you said -- I just cleared around them and didn't go monkeying about.' He stood up and went to the map on the wall. Most of it was blank but an area around the cenote had been inked in. 'Here they are,' he said. 'I marked them all.'

  'I'll have a look at them,' said Fallon. 'Gentlemen, Mr. Rudetsky is not an archeologist, but he is a skilled surveyor and he will be our cartographer.' He waved his hand. 'As the work goes on I hope this map will become filled in and cease to be terra incognita. Now, let's get on with it.'

  He set up five teams, each headed by an archeologist who would direct the work, and to each team he gave an area. He had had the Vivero map from the mirror redrawn and used it as a rough guide. Then he turned to me. 'You will be an exception, Jemmy,' he said. 'I know we aren't going for detailed exploration at this time, but I think the cenote might provide some interesting finds. The cenote is yours.' He grinned. 'I think you're very lucky to be able to splash about in cool water all day while the rest of us sweat in the heat.'