by John Jonas
CHAPTER 6
After fifteen hours of taking turns driving, alternating between driving and sleeping, they arrived at the Darwin International Airport. Charlie was driving and Jarvick was pointing out the signs with directions to the cargo terminal. The truck made a turn around a large hangar and they could see the big Air Force jet sitting in front of it. Jarvick had been talking with Ben along the way and had been told to ask for Colonel Williamson, which he did to the security guard at the gate. The guard waved them through and they proceeded toward the big jet, where they were met by two airmen at the ramp into the jet. Charlie and Jarvick got out and an airman began to drive the truck, with the meteorite strapped down to it, into the aircraft.
Charlie asked “When are they going to give my mate’s truck back to him?”
Jarvick said “Don’t worry; he will be compensated very well for the use of it. We can’t risk transferring it to another truck.”
Just then, a short but stocky man with a crew cut walked up to them “I’m Colonel Williamson, you must be Jarvick?”
“Glad to meet you Colonel, this is Charlie, it’s his truck you’re commandeering.”
“Good to meet your Charlie, and thanks for the use of the truck. If you give me your contact info, I’ll make sure it gets back to you in one piece.”
“It doesn’t belong to me but I’ll let the owner know where it is.”
The Colonel said “Tell him we are renting it from him and he’ll be paid quite well.”
After Charlie gave him his info, the Colonel started to walk up the ramp as it was closing; Jarvick and Charlie walked toward the terminal, then Jarvick asked “How are you going to get back to Alice Springs?”
“No Worries, I’ll call Harry and he’ll fly up here in my Cessna and pick me up.”
“Well, thanks for everything, all your help, I’ll never forget it.”
Charlie shook Jarvick’s hand and said “Look me up next time you’re here, it’s been a kick.”
The two men separated, and Jarvick walked to the ticket counter pulling out the credit card Ben had given him. He only had to wait in line for a few minutes; so when it was his turn, he told the woman behind the counter he wanted the next flight to Guam.
Jarvick was looking at his handheld computer and comparing the map to the GPS coordinates that Ben had given him as the plane landed at the airport on Guam. Located in the western Pacific east of the Philippines, the Marianas’ most southern island of Guam also serves as the capital. The Marianas also have fourteen other islands that are located in an arc, all north of here. The one Jarvick wanted to get to was Tinian, a smaller island next to Saipan. On the southern tip is a spot in the ocean called Tatsumi Reef, a shallow area where one of the asteroid fragments landed.
After exiting the plane, he found the ticket counter and arranged for a flight to the Tinian airport. He was told the next flight is in two hours, which Jarvick accepted as a chance to get something to eat and send a note to Ben at the JPL. After finishing a forgettable sandwich, he typed a note into his handheld computer to Ben. Presently in Guam, going to site #3, Tatsumi Reef near Tinian. Jarvick.
Jarvick walked down the stairs from the twin turboprop onto the tarmac. The Tinian airport terminal resembled a small office building with a tower next to it. Inside, he found a rental car agency that consisted of a desk in the corner with a sign on the wall. He was able to rent one of the three cars in their “fleet”, which he found parked outside next to the taxi stand, the keys were in it. It was an old pickup that still ran on gasoline; and when he started it, white smoke billowed from underneath the beast. Exiting the airport property, Jarvick found the road to the south and drove for a half mile before the pavement ended. The road continued, but it was more a dirt path, trees and bushes to the left and beach to the right. He didn’t have a plan and wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet, so he just drove. When he reached the southern tip of the island, he stopped and walked down to the rocky shore, looking south at the blue water. Off to the left he could see two boats tied to the shoreline. Two young men were next to a fire pit and appeared to be cooking something. Jarvick walked up and introduced himself, noticing the fish on the grill. He explained that he was from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the U.S. and was here on an investigation. The two men invited him to join them, saying they were sailors from the Naval base on Guam, enjoying a day off spear fishing.
“I’m Jay, and this is Mark. You want some fish? We just got it out of the ocean.”
Even though he had a sandwich a few hours ago, the fish smelled good, so he accepted and told them he needed a ride out to a spot not far from here. The one called Jay said “We’ll be glad to help, where do you need to go?
Jarvick pulled out his computer and showed them the map. He pointed to a spot in the ocean about a half mile out into the ocean.
“You mean the blue hole.” Mark said.
Confused, Jarvick said “The blue hole?”
“Yeah, the blue hole. Most of the water out there ranges from five to eight feet deep, except the blue hole. We found it a month ago.”
Jarvick asked “How deep is this hole? Have you been in it?”
Jay said “It looks like it’s about forty feet deep and we haven’t been down to the bottom, but you can almost see it. It looks like there is a boulder at the bottom but you would need a scuba tank to get down there. We just like to snorkel around with our Hawaiian slings and spear fish. There’s a scuba rental place in a shack down the beach if you’re interested. Did you want a ride out there?”
Jarvick couldn’t believe his luck. “That would be nice of you, thanks.”
After renting three scuba tanks, Jay and Mark gave Jarvick a quick lesson near the shore and were now dropping the anchor over the side of the boat. On the way out here the water was light blue in color, but they had come to a spot in the reef that was much darker, a deep blue area almost a hundred feet across. Their boat was near the edge of it and they began to put their scuba gear on. Once Jarvick gave them a thumbs up, over the side the three went, where they met at the edge of the hole. Jay flashed an “okay” sign at Jarvick and he replied with the same hand signal, then the three of them descended into the hole.
It was darker and colder at the bottom, but Jarvick could see that the boulder Jay had mentioned was there and it looked like the same kind of fragment that he had found in Australia. It was mostly black with different colored spots scattered in it, but it was twice as big. The two sailors were swimming around it and pointing at the blue and green areas; and Jarvick gave them the hand signal of pointing at a blue area followed by the “throat cut” motion, meaning danger. The two men replied with an okay signal and backed off. Jarvick noticed a spot near the top that looked like a hole in the meteorite two feet in diameter but the small fish nearby were not swimming through it. He tried to put his hand through the hole but something blocked it, like there was a piece of glass in the way. Then he remembered what the orange powder did to his hand, turning it invisible; so he guessed that there must be a deposit of the orange substance in this area of the meteorite.
Jarvick signaled “up” and the three of them surfaced; and the two sailors barraged him with questions about what they had just seen. He answered as many as he could as they returned to shore, where Jarvick thanked them and returned to his rental car. Taking out the satellite phone, he dialed and waited for Ben to answer. It was still early in Pasadena and Ben picked up on the fifth ring, sounding like he had just gotten out of bed.
“Ben , are you awake?”
“Just getting some coffee, where are you?”
“I’m at site #3, getting ready to leave for the U.S.”
Ben sipped his coffee, “The Air Force jet from Darwin is due in a couple of hours, did you find the number three fragment?”
“Yes, and I have a warning for you. Be very careful when you examine the blue areas, I’m pretty sure it’s a dangerous deposit. I don’t know what the green ones are but you’re going to find that orange mineral quite
fascinating.”