by J. T. Cross
“Why else would with Northern Energies’ head of security be here? It’s also the way those men ran in military style and the weapons they carried. There’s no normal work going on. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear they were hit men.”
Kate gasped and took a step backward. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
“And how would you know what a hit man looks like?”
Luc looked her in the eye and started to say something, then stopped.
“Honestly Luc, I think you’re letting your imagination run wild. I know you’re under a lot of pressure, but what you’re saying sounds ridiculous.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he said, but something told him she was dead wrong. Maybe it was his training, or maybe it was that heart of the hunter thing. If it was, it was on red alert.
While he had been talking to the guard, Chuck had grabbed the last few items. With everything loaded, they climbed in her pickup. Luc pulled out of the parking lot and began the short drive to his grandfather’s house.
As he drove through the village he began to doubt his strategy for finding the helicopter. He had planned on calling Yudi and Miki as soon as they had arrived in Manatuk, but now he wasn’t sure what to do next.
He recalled the map that Lackland had shown them in the Washington University lab. It clearly showed the distribution of the black rocks covering a wide area across the eastern mountains. Without additional information, there was just no way to know exactly where Christie and Philip’s pilot had been heading.
Blindly riding into those mountains, with no idea where the helicopter was located, seemed not only ridiculous but also downright dangerous. He was beginning to feel desperate. He drove in silence, while his mind raced.
Chapter 8
Victor Solanich sat in the copilot’s seat of the Sikorsky helicopter. He gazed out the cockpit window as it raced across the tundra heading northward. He was relieved to be away from the airport and all the prying eyes, especially Luc Moon’s. Moon had certainly wasted no time getting there. It didn’t hurt to have a girlfriend with a plane, he supposed.
He thought about yesterday evening when he had reported status back to Valenkamp. It hadn’t gone well after he had told him they hadn’t actually seen the helicopter crash. He could still remember Valenkamp’s furious voice.
He had a rough idea of where they had been when he had detonated the device, but only a very rough one. The problems with the low-hanging clouds and Serena’s inability to follow the helicopter had thrown him off his game. He had forgotten to mark their position on Serena’s GPS.
From the back, he heard one of the two men yell up to him. “Who was that man who tried to get to us right before we took off?”
Victor felt his aggravation growing. He didn’t want the pilot to hear any of their private business. The less the man knew, the better. He left his seat to join the men in the back.
He sat down next to them on one of the fold-down seats and glanced at the three ATVs strapped down at the rear of the cabin. The seats had been removed to make room for them. Supplies were stacked in and around the ATVs and were also tied down to hooks in the floor.
He turned to face the two men and in a hushed tone said, “His name is Luc Moon. He’s one of the people Mr. Valenkamp wants us to eliminate.”
“What was he doing at the airport?” the man asked.
“He’s a member of a search-and-rescue team, so it’s possible he intends to look for the helicopter, too.”
“Why would he do that?”
Victor felt the helicopter fly through a pocket of turbulence and grabbed a handhold near the seat to steady himself. “Some of his friends were on the helicopter.”
“He doesn’t have the location data that we do. He’ll never be able to find it.”
Victor glared at the man. “What he can do is of no concern to me right now. The transmission of navigation data from their helicopter stopped a full 15 minutes before the device was detonated. Do you have any idea how far that helicopter could’ve flown in 15 minutes?”
“Not really.”
“According to the last information it transmitted, it could be anywhere within a 400-square-mile region.”
“That’s a lot of area to search.”
“No shit. The highest probability is of it being somewhere along its original flight path. And that’s where we’re searching.” He raised his hand to rub the scar on the side of his head.
The man thrust his chin out and tightened his lips. “If he’s good and finds the helicopter, maybe our paths will cross.”
“In that case, Mr. Moon will never know where the bullet came from,” Victor replied flatly.
He stood up and took a step back to the cockpit, but then turned back to face the men. “All the pilot’s been told is that a Northern Energies helicopter went missing in this area. Don’t ask any more questions in front of him. Got that?”
They nodded.
He went back up front and sat down. He slid down in his seat a bit and relaxed as he imagined focusing cross-hairs on Luc Moon’s head and slowly pulling the trigger. The pleasant daydream was soon interrupted by a worrisome thought. Was it possible that whatever had happened to the first helicopter’s navigation system might also happen to theirs?
Things weren’t working out as planned so far, although he had gotten at least one lucky break. If Moon hadn’t called the emergency center, Valenkamp wouldn’t have known what had happened, and he wouldn’t have had a head start in cleaning up the mess. Thank you, Mr. Moon. Thank you, thank you.
Still, Victor had a nagging suspicion that what had happened to the first helicopter wasn’t a random failure. The weather had been good. It was a relatively new helicopter with the latest navigation equipment. There was no reason for its communication and GPS equipment to both fail within seconds of each other... Or was there?
He turned and looked at the pilot. “How’s the navigation system working?“
“It’s fine. Why?”
Victor frowned. “Keep your eyes on the readouts. If anything looks funny, turn around and head back immediately.”
“What do you expect might happen?”
“I’m not sure.”
“It’s been fine so far. In fact, we’re almost over the location you gave me.”
Victor watched the cloud cover increase as they continued flying north. After several minutes he saw the pilot pull back on the stick and felt himself pushed down into the seat as the helicopter slowed to a hover.
“We’re there,” the pilot said.
Victor examined the navigation system’s display. As far as he could tell, everything was working normally, but then again there were multiple color displays scattered across the helicopter’s console, none of which he was familiar with.
“Everything look okay to you?” he asked the pilot again.
The pilot once again checked the instruments. “Everything’s good.”
“Take us down slowly. Try and get below these damn clouds.”
The pilot hesitated. “I’d rather not take us down unless we can see the ground.”
Victor gave him a menacing look. “You have instruments, use them.”
The pilot looked at a display that appeared to show a ground map. “According to the ground proximity indicator, there’s nothing over 2,500 feet under us. I guess I can take us down a little.”
The pilot focused his eyes on the ground proximity indicator and began descending. Victor watched the altimeter reading begin to drop. He glanced at the GPS display then back at the altimeter. When they reached 3,000 feet, Victor saw something flash out of the corner of his eye and then heard an alarm go off. “Stop,” he shouted.
The pilot abruptly pulled back on the collective and stopped the descent. “Whoa! That’s not good.” On one of the screens was a flashing message that read:
Acquiring GPS Satellites...
Warning - WAAS Signal Lost
“That’s strange, we lost both Nav s
ignals and they’re from different satellite systems. Without our GPS functioning properly, the ground proximity indicator is worthless. We can’t go any lower,” the pilot said.
“Take us back up,” Victor said angrily.
The pilot pulled back on the collective and they started climbing. Victor continued to watch the displays as they regained their lost altitude. Several minutes later, the warning messages disappeared and the location on the GPS display updated.
It finally made sense to Victor. He felt confident he knew why the other helicopter had stopped transmitting location data. It was the damn ore causing interference, which was a blessing and a curse.
This was going to put yet another dent in his plans. Without the GPS they couldn’t safely navigate under such poor visibility conditions.
The realization began to make him feel a little bit better. Now he knew that, even if he had thought to record their position on Serena’s GPS, he probably wouldn’t have been able to.
“Take us back to where we can see the ground. We’re going to have to set down for the night,” Victor said.
“We’re not going back to the airport?”
“No. Mark our position. Tomorrow morning, first thing, we’re going to fly in under the clouds and try to get as close to this location as possible before the navigation system fails.”
“Whatever it takes to find the helicopter,” the pilot said.
Victor looked at him absentmindedly. “Yeah.” He realized his chances of finding the helicopter were decreasing by the minute. His frustration began to climb even higher.
Chapter 9
Luc pulled into his grandfather’s driveway and parked Kate’s pickup. He turned off the engine and laid his forehead against the steering wheel. On the way from the airport he had wracked his brain trying to think of some way they could locate the helicopter. Nothing had come to mind.
Earlier in the day, his grandfather had contacted the village elders and told them about the situation. The mayor had said that he would make an official request to the authorities to send a search plane. He hoped his grandfather had some good news.
They climbed out of the truck and Kate and Chuck followed Luc into Matooska’s small house. They found him sitting at the dining room table talking on the phone. He didn’t look happy.
“Then they can all just go to hell, the cowards,” he yelled into the phone and hung up.
“That didn’t sound good,” Luc said fearing what he would hear next.
“They’re not planning on sending a search-and-rescue plane. They said another storm is building, and it would be too dangerous.” Slowly rising from the chair, he threw the phone down on the table and walked into the kitchen shaking his head.
The weather had been one of Luc’s major concerns. It could turn on a dime in this part of the country. He now knew that the hope of outside help was gone. He began pacing back and forth across the living room floor.
The helplessness he felt on the drive from the airport had taken root and was now in full bloom. Every rescue option seemed to be closing.
His mind began to be filled with self-recriminations. Who was he to think he could just ride in there like some knight-in-shining-armor hero and find them? Walking to the couch, he laid down and stared up at the ceiling. He laid there for ten minutes, wondering what he could do to counteract the mistakes he had made. The rest of the world seemed to retreat as his mind went round and round in circles.
Chuck walked over to the couch and looked down at him. “I’m not real good at figuring things like this out, but I can tell you one thing, this is no time to give up.”
Luc looked up at him and found it hard to look Chuck in the eye. His grandfather knew what he had done, but his friends were in the dark and the guilt was building. He decided to tell them.
He stood up and walked to the middle of the living room. “I’m the one who ignored the warnings and got them involved in this whole mess. It’s my fault! I should’ve never told anyone about the objects.”
Kate looked at him, confused. “What are you talking about, Luc?”
“The village medicine lady warned me not to show the rocks or the animal tooth to anyone, my grandfather agreed with her. She told me to take them back to where they came from and bury them. I didn’t do it. I was going to do something great for the village. I thought I knew best.” His misery felt unbearable.
Kate approached him and put her arm around his waist. “Luc, you were only doing what you thought would help the village. No one could have known how things would turn out.”
“Someone seemed to know. I remember her warnings about the objects. Take them with you at your own peril. It will change everything. You could lose the things you value the most.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Okay, so you were warned. You have to move on. We’ve got to think of something to do. Did she say anything else?”
“She said I was taking the hard path. I remember that!” He looked down at the floor for a moment. “She said something else, but I don’t remember what it was.”
“Try and think back, Luc. It could be important. After all, she did help you find the boys.”
What was it, he thought and the memory of that morning slowly began to return. “She said, ‘When all is lost and you’re beyond hope, look me up.’”
“You mean like, visit her?”
“I think that’s what she meant.”
“Well maybe we should then,” Kate said, raising her eyebrows.
Matooska got up from his chair and walked into the living room. “It’s a little tricky to find Ishki’s cabin. You should call Yudi. He would probably drive you out there, as long as you don’t ask him to go in with you.”
Luc pulled out his cell phone and dialed Yudi’s number. He listened to it ring several times before he answered.
“Hello.”
“This is Luc.”
“I’ve got two quads waiting for you. Will that be enough?”
“That’s perfect Yudi, but we’ve run into problems. We were unable to locate any trace of the helicopter. The cloud cover was so thick, it was just impossible.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I think I need to see the medicine lady. Can you take me out to her place?”
“She’s just a crazy old woman, Luc; she can’t help you.”
“She was just crazy enough to have drawn me a picture of where the boys were located. She also warned me not to take the rock samples to Seattle for analysis. If I had listened to her, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. I have to talk to her, as soon as possible.”
Luc listened for Yudi’s response. He began to wonder if his cell phone had dropped the call. “Yudi, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. I can pick you up and drive you out to her place. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” he said and hung up.
Luc stuck his cell phone back in his pocket and turned to Kate and Chuck. “He said he would drive us out to see the medicine lady.”
Luc saw the look of doubt in Chuck’s eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, Chuck, but I can’t think of anything else to do.”
“I’m not saying anything,” Chuck said with a smile as he shook his head back and forth and walked into the dining room.
“I think it’s our best bet,” Kate said. “I’m going to make some hot cocoa. Does anyone else want some?”
Both Luc and Chuck nodded and Kate went into the kitchen. Luc sat in his grandfather’s rocking chair and silently rocked until she returned with the three cups of hot cocoa.
The hot cup felt comforting in his hands. He sipped the cocoa slowly and continued staring at the floor and rocking. Kate and Chuck sat on the couch and drank theirs. No one had much to say as they waited for Yudi to arrive.
* * *
Before Luc had finished his hot chocolate he heard a pickup pulling into the driveway. A horn blew several times.
“Could you stay here with Luc’s grandfather and keep him company whi
le we try and see the medicine lady?” Kate asked Chuck.
“I wasn’t lookin’ forward to seeing that lady anyway,” Chuck said sitting down in a recliner. “I’ll see you guys when you get back.”
Kate got in the pickup first and sat in the middle. The two men got in and closed the doors, squeezing her in on either side.
Yudi pulled away from Luc’s house and drove through the village. At the south end he turned onto Old Bear Road. It led away from the village to a hilly region several miles to the south.
He drove slowly along the road because it had rained the night before, and it was still muddy. Three quarters of the way to Ishki’s cabin they began climbing into the hills, and he had to put the pickup in four-wheel drive. Trees began to speckle the hills, and then became more abundant as they continued driving.
Luc was surprised at the number of turns Yudi had to make on his way to her cabin. There were no road signs that gave any clues of where they were heading.
“We’re almost there,” Yudi said.
The road ended at the foot of a small hill that was covered with pine trees. He pulled the truck into a gravelly area and shut off the engine.
“You guys go talk to the old woman. Take as long as you want. You couldn’t pay me enough to go in her cabin,” Yudi said stubbornly.
Luc began to wonder if he had made a mistake coming to see Ishki. If Yudi was that concerned, there must be more to the story than he was letting on.
Chapter 10
Christie watched Marcus kick the side of the helicopter in anger. He had been trying all day to find something that would burn well enough to dry out his pile of wood.
It had turned out to be harder than he thought to get fuel out of the helicopter’s well-protected tanks. Even the fuel lines were impossible to get at without tools.
His second attempt was to pull one of the seats out and try and burn its upholstery and foam stuffing. None of it would burn long enough to even warm the wood. He had told her it was probably because some type of fire retardant had been applied to them. Later, he had wasted half a box of their precious matches trying to get some damp pine needles to ignite.