In answer, Jack turned and stuck his head through the opening and told them all to come out of the storage room.
Farbeaux smiled and looked at each face in turn and then faced Collins once again.
"So, Colonel, our destinies have been placed on hold once more. You can be certain that it was only my friend Sarah and that horrible rebuke I saw in her wonderful eyes that made me change that destiny for you tonight. As for us, we must leave this place; I have transport waiting outside, the local police will be sending their relief very soon."
"Colonel Farbeaux, I've studied you more than any adversary I've come up against, and I can't figure out why are you doing this? It's not for Sarah, and it surely isn't to help me find my sister."
"Ah, you do know me, Jack. I do have one demand — I want the Twins of Peter the Great, when this little expedition is over of course."
"Oh, of course, even though earlier you said they didn't exist."
Henri walked forward and stepped into the storage room and went to one of the first bookshelves and retrieved a small leather-bound book. He blew some dust off of it and then went back to face Collins. Farbeaux only hunched his shoulders, but kept the smile.
"The Petrov Journal and the Lattimer Papers, Colonel," he said as he held the items and then gave them to the American.
"They weren't destroyed — Chavez actually gave his life to protect them?" Jack asked as he took the journal.
"He took a chance that the men who killed him would have more mercy on him than—"
"You?" Jack said, finishing Farbeaux's sentence.
"Exactly," Henri said, smiling.
"Okay, Henri, but after I get my sister back, and you have these diamonds that don't exist, we do have unfinished business."
"Agreed, Colonel," Farbeaux said as he stared right back at Jack.
"Now, you mentioned someone else who knew the destination of the Russians?"
"Ah, yes. Turn to the back page of the journal, next to the map; there is a name there I think you and your friends might be familiar with. He was the man responsible for delivering the journal and notes to Lattimer's family back in 1968. He was a student then, but he was there when Lattimer found what he was looking for. I had planned on asking him myself for his assistance in the near future, but maybe now would be a good time since he knows exactly where to look, and as you say, time is of the upmost importance."
Jack opened the old journal. Seeing the written Russian script, he thumbed carefully through the dried and yellowed pages until he came across the last page. On it was a detailed drawing of the area that had been discovered by L. T. Lattimer, but with no coordinates it would take someone familiar with the landmarks, such as the drawing of the plateau and bends in the river. Under the small diagram was a name. Jack read it and he knew the others saw the wonder of that name cross his facial features.
"What's the name, Jack?" Sarah asked.
Collins handed the journal over to Sarah and the others stepped up to see the name as she held it out in front of her. They had to read the sentence that Lattimer had written to his family. Jack, for his part, turned, unbelieving toward the staircase and sat down on the bottom step. Sarah read as the others looked on. The name was of one of the Group's very own professors.
I, Lawrence Thurgood Lattimer, hereby declare this journal as my personal property and the description listed as my claim to the property described herein. It is thus forwarded to my next of kin, Archibald Lattimer of Boston, Massachusetts. I hereby sign this article as true and unyielding this date of July 23, 1968.
L. T. Lattimer, Esq.
Witnessed this day by: Charles Hindershot Ellenshaw III
Stanford University
5
EVENT GROUP COMPLEX
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA
FOUR HOURS LATER
Will Mendenhall and Sarah McIntire were chosen to drive as quickly as possible to Nevada to enquire as to Charles Hindershot Ellenshaw III's current disposition. Jason Ryan and Captain Everett had been assigned the task of standing by and guarding the old Grumman seaplane under the small bridge on the L.A. River because Jack figured they may have to leave quickly if the agency or the FBI found them out. Ryan assured Jack that he could not only fly the seaplane, but evade anyone looking for them. When asked how, Jason just smiled and said, "That's navy stuff, Colonel."
Collins, Farbeaux, and Punchy Alexander were holed up inside an old and tired Motel 6 where they would pore over the Petrov Diary and the Lattimer note, hoping to get a good fix on where they would find Sagli and Deonovich — and Lynn. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to drag Doc Ellenshaw with them if he could pinpoint on a map for Sarah and Mendenhall just where to start looking for the site, a problem because Collins had counted no less than six small plateaus along the Stikine River that resembled the Lattimer description.
Punchy Alexander had told Jack that he would return to Montreal and meet them at the Stikine. He said he had some ground to cover to keep the prime minister happy. However, it was Farbeaux who suggested it would be a very bad idea to split up at that point for security reasons. He figured if one person was caught, they all would eventually succumb to the authorities. And after Jack thought about it and saw the seriousness of the Frenchman, he agreed. Punchy would take the full ride with the Event Group.
"Tell me, Colonel, how it is that the two of you are so close?" Henri asked Jack while Alexander was in the bathroom adjusting the wrap he was wearing for his bruised ribs.
Jack looked at Farbeaux and saw the man was waiting with a stern look on his face. "I met Punchy in 1989, a joint recovery operation conducted by the British SAS and Delta units in Vancouver, British Columbia."
"May I ask what it was that this joint operation was to recover?"
Jack smiled as he saw the seriousness of Henri's demeanor.
"You may indeed ask, Henri."
"You Americans are becoming very private with your secrets Colonel, almost as good as—"
"The French?" Jack said, anticipating the self-made pat on the back from Farbeaux.
The tall man from Bordeaux looked from Collins toward the bathroom as the door opened and Alexander came through and rejoined them. Henri just looked back at Jack and winked.
EVENT GROUP COMPLEX
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA
Sarah and Will, who was dozing in his chair next to her, waited inside Niles Compton's office while the director was on the phone trying to seek out the whereabouts of Professor Ellenshaw, after they had explained why they needed to find him.
As she waited beside the dozing Mendenhall, Sarah looked over at two of Jack's security men as they waited for Director Compton just inside of his door.
"Do you have to follow the director everywhere?" she asked the lance corporal who looked entirely uncomfortable doing his job.
"Yes, sir, the director's own orders," he said as he cleared his throat. "He's acting on the president's directive, ma'am."
Sarah was amazed that Niles could just simply stay at the base; instead, he was doing as his friend, the president said: He was under house arrest for having let Jack leave the complex.
"Well, I hope you don't shoot him if tries to escape," she said half jokingly.
The black lance corporal looked hurt and he was taken back.
"I resent that, ma'am."
"Just kidding, Corporal," Sarah said, knowing Jack's people, no matter what happened outside in the real world, every one of them, was loyal to the colonel, and to their main boss, the director of Department 5656. They would never allow anything to happen to Niles.
Sarah smiled, trying to apologize for her bad joke, when Niles stood from his desk and then pointed at Sarah, indicating that she should follow him. She nudged Will who came awake with a start and then realized they were on the move once again.
"Come on you two, keep up." Niles said to his two guards, "Follow me."
"Where are we going?" Sarah asked as she tried to keep up with Niles as he hurried to the el
evator.
"Down into the dungeon."
* * *
Seventeen levels beneath the main science labs of the facility, a small cordon of laboratories occupied the lowest level of the science department, just above the first level of artifact vaults. Director Compton had offered better facilities for the department currently occupying these spaces, but the department head refused to move his people. He said they felt far more comfortable away from the maddening crowd. And to be honest, Niles knew the department still wasn't well received by the rest of the sciences, no matter how many Group accommodations it had received and how many times Compton stepped in to protect some of these strange, but very dedicated people.
The Cryptozoology Department was chaired by the now famous Charles Hindershot Ellenshaw III, the eccentric but brilliant paleontologist/anthropologist, formerly of Stanford and then Yale universities, until his beliefs drove him away from mainstream science.
Before Niles, Sarah, Will, and the two security men stepped from the elevator, the loudness of the music blaring from the hallway caught their attention although the elevator doors were still closed.
"Is Doc Ellenshaw having a party," Sarah looked at her watch, "at twelve thirty in the morning?"
"Not that I need to explain Professor Ellenshaw to you, but he does his best work alone, and late at night. He says it gives him the freedom to use Europa and other department's equipment without interference from the other supervisors and department heads." Niles looked over at Sarah. "And yes, he has my permission."
The elevator doors had opened to a semidarkened and curving hallway. The heavy beat of the '60s song "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now," by the Byrds, slammed into the group. Niles smiled and shook his head.
"You two remain here. I promise not to escape through the bowels of the complex," Niles said as he gestured for the two guards to remain.
"Disobeying orders?" Sarah asked.
"Well, sometimes there are certain things security should overlook; Charlie's labs are one of them."
As the song grew louder, the smell of the corridor changed. Sarah looked at Will and he smiled and made a fake frown. As Niles came to the steel door guarding the domain of the Crypto Department, he turned to face Sarah and Mendenhall.
"I know you work for Jack, but I am giving you a direct order: What you see, and whatever else you may come across, is confidential, Lieutenant, understand?"
"I see nothing, Doctor Compton," Will answered.
Niles continued to stare at him.
"And smell nothing," he finished.
Sarah smiled at Will's dilemma.
"Very well," Niles said as he opened the door.
Charles Hindershot Ellenshaw III was sitting at a lab table examining a small skull of an animal that had existed no less than a thousand years before. The dodo bird, once thought to be extinct, was now believed to be alive and well and living in the deep forested areas of northern Germany. Charlie was intrigued and wanted to help out if he could in confirming it. However, the field team freeze Niles had instituted had made his trip to Europe impossible, and he was miffed about it.
"Charlie!" Niles screamed at the door.
Ellenshaw raised his head, his white mane of hair flowing in every direction. His glasses were perched on his forehead and acted as a headband to keep the long hair from getting in his face. The fifty-eight-year-old professor looked around, and when he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, he returned to examining the remains of the dodo.
Niles, frustrated, walked over to the stereo against the near wall and shut down the Byrds. Ellenshaw almost fell from the tall chair in which he was sitting. He looked around wildly, then he saw Compton and the others as they stared at him from a few feet away through the blue-tinted light he had glowing from a large light fixture from above.
"Ah, Niles, Sarah, what a surprise," he said looking from Compton and McIntire, and then he finally caught sight of Will. "And Lieutenant Mendenhall," he said through his teeth as he quickly waved away some of the leftover smoke hovering about his head.
"Professor," Mendenhall said, wanting to laugh at Ellenshaw at his attempt to hide his illegal activities.
"Ah, Miss McIntire, there was a rumor you and the lieutenant here, were, ahh, on the run."
"We are, Charlie. How are you?" she asked with her smile broadening; now knowing why Niles insisted Will's security men and colleagues stay behind.
"Alright, Charlie, Colonel Collins has sent these two to ask you a few questions," Niles said.
"Professor, I need you to think on this after I ask you the question, think hard on anything you can remember, okay?"
"Why, I will try my best."
"Professor, where were you in the summer of 1968?"
As Sarah watched, a faraway look came into Ellenshaw's eyes.
Ellenshaw turned to face Niles as a clear memory of another old song, "Incense and Peppermints," swirled through his head.
"The summer of 1968," Charlie said, but didn't continue.
"Doctor, were you in Canada?" Sarah prompted.
Ellenshaw smiled and then looked at Sarah and Mendenhall.
"We all looked at it as a chance to get away from Stanford and the troubling times in the country back then. A summer retreat to study the Tlingit Indians of the northern country. They lived along the Stikine, it's a river that—"
"We know, Professor, please continue."
"We thought it would be nothing more than research during the day, and one big party at night — you know, forget about the war and protests, assassinations. It was also a real chance at doing some significant anthropological work in the daylight hours."
"Tell us what happened up there, Charlie." Niles watched his old friend's eyes. He was looking even paler than usual in the blue light, and he could see that Charlie was not going to a place he liked very much. He slowly sat down in his chair. Ellenshaw then turned and half smiled at Niles.
"Sorry," he looked back down at his hands.
"We have a time issue here, Charlie," Niles prompted once more.
"That summer was dry; animals of all kinds were coming down from the high country north of the Stikine just to find water. One night while we were sitting around the campfire telling stories and generally having a good time, we started hearing the most terrifying sounds emanating from the deep forest around us. It was like fifty men out in the darkness hitting the trees with baseball bats, truly frightening to some, but I was intrigued as this was a way our prehistoric brethren communicated at night a very long time ago. However, it seemed I was the only one that found the disturbance interesting."
Sarah and Will saw that whatever Charlie had witnessed that long ago summer was still with him, and they could tell every word he uttered was the truth.
Ellenshaw related the rest of the story of that summer, starting with his small foray up the Stikine River with their guide, L. T. Lattimer, finding the cave and the wagons, the collected camping gear, and then recounting his encounter with the animal that invaded his dreams every year since that long-ago summer in Canada. The story ended with him paddling down that same river and never seeing Lattimer again.
"What were they?" Mendenhall asked when Charlie paused to wipe his brow.
"Huh?" Ellenshaw asked, not realizing he had stopped talking.
"Those things in the woods?" Mendenhall asked, his eyes never once leaving Ellenshaw.
"I don't know, name them whatever you want, apes, the missing link…" He looked from face to face. "Bigfoot, Sasquatch, whatever, I don't care what they're known by, but they were there."
Sarah, Will, and Niles were silent as Charlie placed his glasses back on. Will and Sarah were watching Charlie with wide eyes that wouldn't move away if a bomb had gone off in the large lab.
"You came across the journal with Lattimer's declaration in it, didn't you?" Ellenshaw asked, his brilliant mind figuring out the reasoning of their questions faster than they could have ever thought.
"Yes
, Professor," Sarah answered as she took Charlie's shoulder and smiled at him. "Could you show us precisely on the map where this place was that you and Lattimer found this cave?"
"Oh, my, no. I would have to be there, I just couldn't point it out to you."
"You have to try, Charlie. Jack's sister is up there somewhere, and you're the only one that's been there."
"You know, that summer was the reason I dropped my pursuit of anthropology?"
"I didn't know that, Charlie," Niles said, knowing Ellenshaw was going to say what he had to say no matter what.
"Yes, that animal has been with me for thirty-one years. But yet, I have always refused to allow myself the chance to investigate it. It's like I know it's real and my searching once more for it would only attract attention to a species that seems to be doing very well without us. Besides, that Lattimer character always scared the hell out of me, that man was clearly deranged."
"Charlie, we need…"
Ellenshaw suddenly stood from his chair. He shook his head.
"I need to go. I have to go, for the colonel's sister, and for me. For me," he said, almost as if he were begging.
Sarah looked from Ellenshaw to the face of a worried Niles Compton. He took a deep breath and saw the hope in the professor's eyes.
"Okay, Charlie. But the priority is Jack's sister, nothing else. Find your Bigfoot if you can, but assist the colonel first."
Ellenshaw could only nod his head. He looked thankfully from Compton to Sarah and then to Mendenhall.
"Thank you."
Mendenhall watched the professor for a moment and then turned away and mumbled to himself. "This is great. First, killer Russians, and now another myth that couldn't possibly have existed an hour ago, and they are both going to try and take a bite out of my ass."
Sarah just patted Mendenhall on the back nodding her head.
"And don't forget about having a Frenchman along who wants to kill all of us, and then there's half the U.S. government trying to hunt us down."
"Yeah," Will said, looking off into space. "Who needs the monster in the woods? We may not even make it to where we're going."
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