by Terry Mixon
It had sounded like a pistol. Someone had let off at least a dozen shots in short order. He wondered what the hell they’d been shooting at.
A sound off to his right caught his attention as he eased into the undergrowth. Someone was hauling ass. He headed in that direction, stopping occasionally to listen.
He knew he’d focused on the movement a little too closely when the tree beside him took a bullet that sent splinters into his face. He dropped and rolled, looking for his attacker.
“You think you can sneak up on me, shithead? Wrong answer!” The voice was obviously a very stressed out Jess.
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
* * * * *
“Harry?” She stared toward to source of the voice, trying to ignore the ringing in her ears.
“I’m going to stand up,” he said. “Don’t shoot me.”
He rose cautiously out of the undergrowth. “You want to put that thing away?”
She stared at the pistol for a second and then lowered it to her side. “Sorry. It was your brother. He ambushed me.”
“It looks like that didn’t work out so well for him. Where the hell did you come from? I was about to dig my way in.”
She gestured behind her. “There’s a secret tunnel back there. There were two guys in the chamber and I dropped a rock on them.”
Harry shook his head in amused disbelief. “Aren’t you the resourceful one?” He took her pistol from her, checked it, and held out his hand. “You’re almost dry. Give me the other magazine.”
She handed it to him as Rex came through the trees at a run. He hefted his rifle and scanned the area, making her feel a whole lot better.
Harry swapped out the magazines and slid the pistol into her holster. “Are you hit? Turn around.”
“No. He missed me. He said he was your brother. He shot at me and I drove him off.”
“So you said. Where’s this hole down?”
Jess felt like she was in shock. Her vision was all weird and tight, and she couldn’t seem to think straight. She took a deep breath, focused, and led him into the trees.
He grabbed her arm when they spotted two men hobbling away. One was supporting the other. “No need to shoot at people who’re retreating. Just let them go.”
“I wouldn’t have shot them,” she said indignantly. At least she hoped not. She’d been reaching for her pistol when he grabbed her.
The man supporting what looked like a teen saw them and hobbled faster. In moments, they were gone in the trees.
Rex came into the small clearing. “I found a few blood drops, so I think he took a round. You want me to chase him down?” He inclined his head toward Jess. “Good shooting.”
Harry grunted. “No. We can’t afford to let him ambush one of us alone. Help me close this off. We’ll post a guard and make sure the new people know about it. I don’t want that asshole slipping in there to blow anything up. Pardon the language.”
She smiled. “I said something like that a few minutes ago. How long before the ringing stops? That gun is loud.”
Jess cocked her head. She heard something in the distance. It was the distinctive sound of a helicopter. “We have more company.”
The two men rolled the rock back over the opening. “Rex, stay here.”
He led her back to the clearing. A helicopter was hovering overhead and men in Rainforest security uniforms were rappelling down.
“Thank God,” Harry said. “We’ll let them get deployed and then I’ll fill their team leader in. Once they’re good, we’ll hoist you up and get the hell out of this damned jungle.”
She felt relieved. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard since this sorry trip started.”
Chapter Ten
Once the security team was in place, Harry quickly briefed the Rainforest team leader as the helicopter searched the area looking for signs of Nathan. There wasn’t much chance of spotting him, but it was worth a try.
He dialed his father’s private number as soon as he finished the briefing.
“Are you on your way out?” his father asked.
“Almost. Nathan showed back up. We drove him off and we’re about to take to the air. You’ll want a total lockdown of the two sites, particularly this one.”
The line was quiet for a moment. “I’ll call my friends in the Guatemalan government. With the generous application of some bribes, I should be able to gain control of the Mayan site. At least in the short term. It will take significantly more money to extend that into the long term and I’ll need a compelling reason for doing so.”
“You’ll want to talk to Miss Cook about that as soon as she gets back to the spaceport. I believe you’ll find her reasoning and evidence compelling.”
“Speaking to her is my highest priority. There’s a chartered plane waiting for all of you at a private airport nearby. It will fly you directly to the Yucatan Spaceport as soon as the helicopter delivers you.”
Jess walked over to Harry. “Are you talking to Mister Rogers? Give me the phone.”
He handed it over. “Don’t go into any detail over an unsecured line.”
She put the phone to her ear. “Good evening, sir. Jessica Cook here. I need to meet with you as soon as possible. This information has some bearing on the project and it’s literally earthshattering.”
After a moment of listening, she continued. “Yes, sir. It’s that important. Thank you.”
Harry took the phone from her. “We’ll be there sometime tonight.” He disconnected without waiting for a response.
“You’re not looking forward to seeing him,” she said.
He allowed the corner of his mouth to quirk up. “You’re very perceptive. No. He and I haven’t seen eye to eye for a very long time. But that’s me. He’s your boss. God save you.”
“What happened? Your split with him, his split with his ex-wife and his other son, and your not-so-subtle war with your brother. That’s a bit dysfunctional.”
“It’s also a bit personal.”
“We’ve saved one another’s lives. We’re like blood brothers now. Blood siblings? Something like that. We’re supposed to bond.”
Harry laughed in spite of himself. She was a bold one.
“Let’s just say that the two of us didn’t see the world the same way. My mother is like him, only worse. As for my brother, he’s a homicidal maniac that I’ll take out of play one day very soon.”
She nodded seriously. “I can’t argue with that.”
“And what about you?” he asked. “I didn’t think there were many orbital engineers left after the collapse of the American space program. Nobody is building anything anymore. Well, except for the Indians and the Chinese. Who’d have expected those two to get into a race to Mars? It’s kind of sad, really.”
“Once the government liquidated NASA and sold off all their assets, those kinds of jobs pretty much went away,” Jess said. “The Russians bought the skeleton of the ISS2 station from the other partners and sold it to a private firm. It’s not common knowledge, but if you dig through all the shell companies, Rainforest is where they all lead. And that’s how I come into the story.”
He frowned. “What the hell does a global seller of everything need with a space station? Aren’t drones fast enough?”
“We’re always looking for new ways to deliver things more quickly. You’d be surprised how fast a package dropped from orbit can get to your house.”
“Nice.”
A grin lit up her face. “I use that at parties. Would you believe we’re turning it into a space hotel?”
“Actually, I might. I heard my father talking about something like that a few times when I was growing up. How could you make a profit? The construction costs must be ruinous. Even with the skeleton already in place when you bought it.”
“That wasn’t any help, cost-wise. I did an inspection after we purchased it and there were flaws in a number of critical struts and supports. Your mother’s company cut some very serious corners. The thing would’
ve probably come apart when they spun her up. It certainly wouldn’t have lasted the entire planned lifecycle.”
He felt his eyebrows rise. “You’ve been in space? Impressive.”
“I know, right? I’ve been up there six times.”
“And this thing can turn a profit?”
“I’m just the construction boss. You’d need to talk to someone on the business side for that.”
The helicopter circled back around and dropped lines for them. The crew chief handed out earplugs and hauled them up one at a time.
On the flight to the airport, he thought about his father’s plans. The idea of building a hotel in space was ludicrous. He must’ve spent billions on the project. No way he’d make that money back with paying guests. There must be a different angle.
Harry hadn’t figured out any answers by the time the helicopter landed. It was after dark. They walked over to a private hangar.
The interior was lit up brighter than day. A sleek private jet with the Rainforest logo on the tail waited for them. A woman in an immaculate light green uniform stood at the foot of the fold-down stairs.
“Good evening,” she said. “I’m Alicia and I’ll be your attendant tonight. If you and your party will board, we’ll take off immediately, Mister Rogers.”
The faint smirk on her lips told him she was one of the shrinking minority of people that had seen the old television program. At least she hadn’t felt the need to sing the damned song.
He let his people board while some men opened the hangar door. A small tug backed in and attached a tow bar to the front wheel of the aircraft.
The interior of the plane smelled like money. Leather and dark wood everywhere. Wide seats that looked more inviting than his bed. His father knew how to live.
That’s when he saw him come out from a door at the rear of the cabin. The Devil had come to Guatemala in person.
* * * * *
Clayton looked his son over with a critical eye. “You look like hell, boy.”
His son’s expression hardened. “Let’s see how you look when someone drops a pyramid on you. I didn’t expect to see you so quickly.”
“Obviously not. Everyone, get your gear put away and Alicia will serve dinner and drinks while we fly out of this hellhole.”
He stepped up to the cockpit as everyone found places for their gear. The pilot looked back at him questioningly.
“What did the tower say when you didn’t file a flight plan?” Clayton asked.
“The same thing they said when I didn’t give them a tail number. Thanks for the money. I’ll fly us out on a course that doesn’t lead to Mexico. I’ll turn when we’re safely away.”
Clayton nodded. “Excellent. Carry on.”
He returned to his seat and openly studied his son. Which no doubt led to the steam he could almost see rising from the boy’s ears. Harry had never been the best at concealing his emotions. Especially the hostile ones. Perhaps that was a plus in his line of work.
Alicia made the rounds and had everyone secured by the time the pilot started the engines. They’d only landed a short while ago, so the warm up time was minimal. They took off and rose into the night sky without incident. Once they leveled off, Alicia took orders for food and drink.
Clayton gestured for Miss Cook and his son to join him at the rear of the craft. He had an office there that would give them privacy to probe what had sent the levelheaded engineer into a tailspin. He couldn’t imagine how she intended to link an ancient Mayan ruin to Project Liberty, so it was undoubtedly going to be a surprise.
Because he knew that sitting behind the desk would only make matters worse with Harry, he arranged all the seats in the open area in front of it. He’d already eaten, so he sipped a fine double malt whisky as the others put some food in their bellies.
Once the intensity of their hunger diminished, he spoke. “Miss Cook, I’m delighted to see you alive and well. I heard your friend didn’t make it. Please accept my deepest condolences. I regret that my ex-wife and son perpetrated this vicious attack. If I may be so bold, what did you find that warrants my immediate attention?”
She opened her bag, which she hadn’t stored, and pulled out a moderately expensive looking digital camera. “Do you have a screen controller?”
He gestured to his desk. “Please have a seat and load them up on the wall screen.”
She removed the memory chip from the camera and inserted it into a slot on his desk. The wall screen came to life a few moments later. There were a number of images. Some of jungle, some of ruins, a few of people, and many of chambers indoors. The interior of the pyramid, he assumed.
He pointed at a picture of a man standing beside a pyramid. Presumably the one that had collapsed. He was young, Hispanic, and grinning widely. “That must be your friend.”
Her face sagged a little. “I took that the day before everything went to hell. He was on top of the world. I suppose that’s a lesson in how wrong we can be.”
“I’m not certain that’s the lesson I’d take away from this terrible situation. Perhaps that the world is more dangerous than we expect. To always remain vigilant.”
“I doubt that would’ve helped him. He found a chamber hidden deep inside the pyramid. It had some art that is literally game changing. Though it’s not the reason I asked you to come, it’s a good place to start.”
She selected an image and zoomed in. The art and inlay of polished stone was impressive. It took him a moment to realize what was wrong with it. It showed the outer planets.
“That can’t be right,” he said after a moment. “This has to be faked.”
She shook her head. “We found something later that indicates otherwise in the strongest terms possible. One more thing to note. There’s something marked here that comes from the outer system to the inner. An extinct comet, most likely.
“There are dates in Mayan script beside it at several points. We should be able to figure out its orbit based on that. Also, it shows a large body in the outer system that we don’t know about.”
“That is extraordinary,” he admitted. “Now I understand why your friend sought you out. This is indeed the find of the century. How could the ancient Mayans possibly be aware of the outer planets? They had no telescopes, if memory serves.”
“Allow me to show you what else we found in the pyramid.”
The next picture showed the devastation that used to be the Mayan artwork.
“What a loss,” he murmured. “This happened when the pyramid collapsed?”
“No, it came apart when a grenade caused the tunnel leading up to this point to cave in. We thought the cracks in the wall might lead to a hidden tunnel, so we opened it up.”
“Is that how you escaped?”
“No,” Harry said. “We had to jump down the well in that room and search for a passage to the one in the courtyard. We were lucky.”
He considered the two of them. “Exceedingly so. I’m not certain that I would play the lottery going forward, if I were you. You may have used your allotted share of good luck.”
“Actually, I think the lottery is a good analogy,” Miss Cook said.
She skipped ahead and showed him what was behind the wall. The burial chamber astounded him.
“Amazing,” he said.
She showed picture after picture until they opened the sarcophagus. He stared at the impossible image on the screen. “This cannot be correct.”
“It was there,” Harry said bluntly. “I saw everything from the moment we opened the tomb. The wall was old. Really old. This wasn’t planted.”
The lie his eyes told him warred with his bedrock certainty that his son’s word was good. If he said it was true, it was true. He watched as she scrolled through the pictures. The clothing was definitely anachronistic. Similar to modern clothes, but not in every way.
The pockets, buttons, and nametag stood out. And the patch on the man’s shoulder. The angle wasn’t very good, but it looked like a tree surrounded by text. Well,
by gibberish in text form. Not something that anyone found in an ancient tomb should be wearing.
Clayton stared at them. “What the hell does this mean?”
“It means a lot more than you think,” Miss Cook said. “Let me show you what we found at the second site.”
The image changed and he slowly stood as he realized what he was seeing. “Is that…”
“It’s a spaceship,” she confirmed. “One that’s been buried in the jungle for about a thousand years.”
* * * * *
Jess watched her boss’ expression with satisfaction. He got it. He knew what this find meant.
“The man in the pyramid undoubtedly came from this ship,” she said. “Harry found the key to opening it in the well once we escaped the collapsing pyramid. I saved what I could from the burial chamber, but we need to recover the body and go over everything that survived the collapse with a fine toothed comb. We also need to recover Abel’s body. His family deserves to have him back.”
The elder Mister Rogers nodded. “Of course. I’ve already called a few people, but I’ll start working every contact I have to get complete control of both sites. We’ll need to have everything you recovered gone over very carefully and protect it from deterioration. I’ll arrange for some restoration specialists to preserve everything. Those artifacts are literally priceless.”
Clayton looked at her with a very serious expression. “Do you realize the scope of what you’ve found here? The immensity of it? The value of this find is incalculable.”
“Even before we found the ship, I knew,” she said. “Even the Mayans knew. Look at the lid of the sarcophagus. See how they have him as though he were about to take flight? He came from above and they knew it.”
The older man stared at the image. “It certainly seems that way. I realize you have many duties awaiting your time on Project Liberty, but we need to debrief you in detail.”
Harry cleared his throat. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but this isn’t your find. It’s hers. As in she owns everything in that pack.”