When Katie walked over and quietly joined them, Jake reached down and took her hand. “Are you OK?” he asked softly.
She nodded, “It’s a note to my grandmother.”
“We’ll make sure it gets delivered,” he said as he looked up and peered into the dark, icy chamber. “We have to find out what he discovered here. We owe it to him. Are you ready to get started?”
“I’m ready,” Katie said with determination.
In the beam of their flashlights, they could see their breath as it hung suspended in the frigid air. To Jake, that was the strangest part. He had gained a great deal of knowledge about geology over his years with TERA. Why had this cave existed for thousands of years without at least a partial thaw? Jake’s knowledge was far from comprehensive, but he at least knew that thermal changes within porous rock were generally large enough to keep vertical ice from staying frozen year round. Higher altitudes in the Himalayas were exempt from seasonal melts because of low temperatures, but this cave was only marginally within the snow line. That mystery would have to wait, he decided, until they had found the extinct remains.
As they began working their way along the perimeter of the chamber, a low thumping noise began to radiate through the room.
“Do you hear that?” Katie asked. Everyone stopped and listened intently. “What is it?”
Jake snapped a concerned look at his brother. “Helicopter,” they said simultaneously.
46
Inside the MI-8, a smile slowly began to develop across Rune Dietrich’s face as they approached the southern summit of the Himalayan range. Unlike the story he had given the commander of the Tajik base, he had known precisely where he was going. The coordinates were already laid into the GPS. Below him, lying atop a boulder, were two backpacks. His prey had been found with practically no effort.
Although his original plan had been to land and then kill them after a brief but painful question and answer session, the weather report had forced him to reevaluate. The pilot had informed Rune that another storm was approaching, which had dumped snow across Southwestern Tibet. There were even reports of a thunderstorm that was nearly unheard of in the area.
After a surveying pass around the perimeter of the mountain to ensure that there were no other escape routes from the cave, he would instruct the pilot to land him near the entrance. From there he could try out an item from their “relief supply kit”—an RPG-7V2. The latest variant of the most proliferated rocket propelled grenade in the world carried a thermobaric warhead designed to eliminate cave occupants. The warhead had been used by the Soviets during their war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. No one inside could live through such an attack and the opening would be sealed forever. Though less personal than he liked, it would be no less entertaining to watch.
As the MI-8 streaked past them, the occupants of the cave watched from behind the broken timbers around the entrance as its full profile came into view. Jake took notice of the red, blue, and white flag painted behind the cockpit as well as the red star on the vertical stabilizer. Rune was hanging from the jump seat, weapon in hand.
“Jake,” Katie said uneasily.
“I know,” Jake answered. “It’s my old buddy from Russia, the one who chased us from the museum.”
“We’re in a lot of trouble,” Sam exclaimed.
Jake watched as the helicopter made a turn around the peak of the mountain. The noise of its rotor gradually faded until the sound was indiscernible from the steady wind around them.
“Do you have a plan?” Katie asked. She could see from his expression that Jake was calculating.
“There’s no doubt he knows we’re in here,” he said, “but he’ll have to land to fire the weapon. Unlike Rambo would have us believe, RPGs are not designed to fire from inside a helicopter unless you want to smoke the pilot and crew out of the air.”
“Don’t mean to be a killjoy,” Sam offered, “but we can’t exactly rush him if he does land.”
“They’re only looking for me and Katie. I doubt they know you’re even here. We can use that to our advantage.”
“We have an advantage?” Sam asked.
Jake looked back toward the metal case sitting atop the jeep. “We have potato mashers.”
“They’re a bazillion years old, Jake,” Sam stressed. “Do you really think they’ll work?”
“If you can get above him, you might be able to throw a grenade down onto his rotor. Even if the detonator doesn’t work, the force of the blades striking the grenade might be enough to set it off. A lot of explosives get more sensitive with age.”
“The summit’s not tall enough,” Sam countered. “He’d need to be almost on the ground if we’re going to get in a good shot. And what if he doesn’t land that close to us? I can’t exactly throw a grenade a half mile away.”
“That’s where I come in,” Jake replied. “Take Katie with you. Climb up and stay out of view. I’ll get their attention a few yards away from the opening. When they drop down after me, you throw the grenade.”
“No Jake!” Katie cried. “You’re not going to do this again. This is my problem. I won’t allow you to be killed for me.”
“I’m also more agile than you,” Sam added. “If anyone is going to draw the helicopter away, it’s going to be me.”
“I’m not going to argue with either of you,” Jake said abruptly. He walked over to the Jeep, unlatched the olive drab case, and carefully removed three of the wooden handled grenades. “You know how to use these, right?”
Sam looked at him solemnly. “Please let me do this.”
“Unscrew the cap at the bottom,” he said mechanically. “You’ll find the pull string for the detonator inside. Once you yank it, the grenade is live. Unlike the American grenades, there is no way to safe it. Pull it and throw. If it doesn’t work…well, do the best you can. Just get Katie out of here.”
“Jake—” Sam started.
“Not now little brother,” Jake interrupted. “I hear him coming back. Help me push this jeep to the opening. If the axels aren’t frozen and the tires still have enough air, I’m going to give them a big target.”
With only a brief gaze into Katie’s concerned face, Jake strained at the rear bumper of the Jeep, using a scaffolding beam for leverage until it popped from its icy cradle. With the entrance to the cave at a slight downhill angle, it was easy to maneuver the light vehicle toward the opening. Sam positioned two broken planks beneath the front wheels to allow them to push the Jeep across the broken snowpack. Outside the entrance, Jake slid in behind the steering wheel and smiled back at Katie.
“Pray for me,” he said. “And may His will be done.”
With a final push from his brother, the jeep broke free of the last bits of ice and began to gain momentum as it coasted down the hill. Sam and Katie quickly retraced Jake’s earlier steps above the cave and took cover behind two large boulders which rested against each other. Their escape had clearly gone unnoticed as they could see the pilot adjust his course in Jake’s direction.
Hanging far from the jump seat, Rune awkwardly extended the RPG’s launch tube until its aft end cleared the helicopter’s cabin. Sam knew immediately what his plan was but couldn’t react before he saw the flash from the weapon. With a loud pop, the rocket motor engaged, sending the warhead toward the Jeep, which was bouncing erratically down the mountainous terrain. With a bright flash and pounding shockwave, the RPG exploded, sending a cloud of debris and dust across the area beneath them. It was impossible to see if the attacker had found his target.
When Sam stepped to the edge of the cliff, anger poured through him. He quickly unscrewed the cap on the grenade, dropped the pull string out, and gave it a hard yank. With the war relic raised above his head, he thrust his arm forward and slung the grenade toward the target. For what seemed like an eternity, the grenade tumbled end-over-end until finally striking the rotor hub that held the helicopter’s blades in place. At the moment of contact, the grenade detonated with a tremendous explosi
on. One of the rotor blades broke free and bent toward the fuselage. In a grisly scene, it sliced into Rune who was still leaning outside the craft to inspect his kill. Catching him between his neck and left shoulder, the blade sliced him in two.
With the damaged rotor, the MI-8 suddenly pitched downward. In a futile effort to bring the helicopter under control, the pilot pulled back hard on the controls, trying to gain altitude. Instead, he over-compensated and brought the craft into a full stall.
Katie and Sam watched speechlessly as the helicopter looped into a back flip and powered downward into the rocky terrain below. The ensuing explosion rocked the entire mountain. Fragments of the MI-8 were propelled in every direction as the shockwave from remaining weapons onboard travelled in an eerie translucent dome spreading outwardly from the crash site.
“We’ve got to get down there,” Katie said as she sped off quickly down the hillside.
Intense flames from the wreckage forced them to take an indirect path to where they had last seen Jake. As they walked around the debris field, Katie averted her eyes for fear of what she might see. When they reached the area where they thought Jake should be, billows of black smoke pouring from the wreckage further obscured their view.
“I can’t see anything,” she said.
“Neither can I.”
“What if he’s dead?” Katie finally managed to voice her fear.
Sam didn’t answer. He refused to even consider the possibility.
Katie’s attention was suddenly drawn toward a pair of figures that seemed to appear from the direction of the crash. A wave of fear swept through her. It had not occurred to her that someone could have survived the crash.
“Are those men walking toward us?” she asked.
When Sam peered through the smoke, he caught sight of a man. His stride was one he well recognized.
“I see him,” Sam said with a smile.
When Jake emerged from the cloud of smoke, it was clear that he had not survived the ordeal unscathed. Blood ran from a cut along his hairline just in front of his right ear. His clothes looked as though they’d been singed and his right sleeve was torn completely off.
“Jake!” Katie called as she ran toward him. For a long while she held him close to her.
“Are you badly hurt?” she pleaded as she looked into his face.
“A little smoke damaged, but otherwise fine. Nice throw by the way,” he added as Sam walked up to join them.
“How on earth did you survive that?” Sam asked shaking his head.
Jake looked at them in turn and then shook his head. “I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Try us.”
“The RPG was a wide miss, but when that helicopter flipped over and smacked the ground, I was almost directly under it. I knew I was going to die, so I closed my eyes and prayed. The next thing I knew, there was an explosion. My sleeve was on fire, and for a moment…,” he paused as he tried to recall the details. “For a moment, I could have sworn I saw our taxi driver from Russia. He was pulling me away.”
“Baris,” Katie asked, “the one who saved us from the hotel that night?”
Jake nodded. “There was so much smoke and debris I could have just been imagining things, but somehow my sleeve got ripped off. I know that sounds crazy, but I really feel like someone else was in there with me.”
“I saw someone else too,” Katie said as her eyes filled up with tears. “God saved you.”
“Who is Baris?” Sam asked with a puzzled look. “Sounds like you guys are talking about an angel or something.”
Katie looked at Jake and laughed. “Maybe.”
Jake could feel the hairs stand up on his arm. “All I can say is, ‘Praise God!’”
“Me too,” Katie replied as she squeezed him tightly.
Sam shook his head. “You two have a lot of explaining to do.”
47
When they returned to the cave, they knew it would be impossible to conduct a thorough investigation. Someone would certainly be coming to check on the missing helicopter. While Sam and Katie snapped photos of the cave’s main room, Jake carried Dmitri’s body to the back of a secondary chamber and chipped away at the ice with Sam’s climbing axe in an effort to bury him. When he was nearly a foot deep, he struck something that was a much darker shade than the ice. It was purplish-red. As he dug deeper, he found what appeared to be an organic material like a frozen piece of red meat.
“Katie,” he called. “Would you come over here and bring your grandfather’s old thermos? I found something.”
Katie grabbed the container and quickly came alongside him. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked.
“I sure hope so,” he replied as he unscrewed the lid, jarred a circular block of ice from it, and began filling the thermos with the frozen remains.
“Was it sitting on a wooden box?” she asked as she observed the material beneath the sample.
“Yeah, I saw that too,” Jake replied as he looked down at the timbered floor. “This whole place is too perfect to just be a cave. Maybe your grandfather and his team were afraid it was going to collapse. They must have framed it up so it would be safe to do their excavations.”
“Thank you, again,” she said sincerely, touching him on the shoulder.
Jake looked back and smiled. “Thank me once we’re safely back in the States.”
“I think I got everything,” Sam called from the other side of the room.
“I can’t get deep enough into this ice to bury your grandfather,” Jake said regretfully.
“It’s OK,” she assured him. “This whole place has been his tomb for a long time. When we come back, we’ll do something then.”
He reached over and took her hand. “Let’s go home.”
As they started down the mountain, Jake asked Sam to toss another grenade above the entrance to the cave. The remaining ice which hung above the opening was instantly dislodged and fell across the entrance. To the unsuspecting eye, it looked like any other snow covered crevasse in the rock.
“Let’s see if we overlooked anything in that Jeep,” Jake suggested as he looked down the hill.
Moments after he had jumped from the vehicle, the old Willys had struck a rock and flipped onto one side. Excavation tools were scattered about the terrain and the passenger side seat swung out on its hinges from the body.
“I see that your driving hasn’t improved much,” Sam quipped.
“And you’ll recall that I’m the one who taught you,” Jake responded.
Katie walked over to the passenger seat and swung it out further. “What’s this?” she said, pointing to a rectangular lid in the floor pan beneath where the seat had rested. It had a circular pull ring.
Jake walked over and pulled the lid open. It made a rusty, creaking sound. “Must be where they put the glove boxes on these old Jeeps.”
“Jake!” Katie said excitedly, reaching inside the compartment. She pulled out a leather bound book.
“Is that another journal?”
“It certainly looks like it,” she said as she carefully opened the front cover and read the dates. “1962-1964”
“His last one,” Jake remarked.
Katie nodded solemnly.
“We’d better read it on the way. It’s time to get going.”
As they headed down the hill, Jake turned to look at the site once more before dropping onto the plateau below. If they were able to come back, he thought, it wouldn’t be anytime soon. The flags which were painted on the sides of the attack helicopter were Russian. That could only mean one thing. Whoever they were up against knew people in high places. The problem now was how to keep them at arm’s length.
48
Huntsville, Alabama
Four Weeks Later
While the overall mood of the reporters that had gathered in the Davidson Center of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center was lighthearted, it was no less cynical. In preparation for the press conference, most o
f them had gathered enough facts to bolster their confidence that any claim made by TERA could easily be refuted. They were used to dealing with intellectual lightweights and even found it enjoyable, especially when it involved evangelicals.
Because he knew the audience well, Bill Hendricks had been careful in scripting his statements. The untraceable leak to the press had first shown up on the Internet. It told of a helicopter attack on the Nepalese-Tibetan border that involved two of his employees. It also implicated two of the wealthiest men in the world—Walter Holtz and Adelbrecht Engel. Although the Russians had disavowed any knowledge of a connection to the men, they had admitted that one of their helicopters had been lost in a storm while on a mission to carry medical supplies to the Himalayas. The governments of Nepal and China had yet to release a statement.
When Hendricks stepped from behind a curtain and approached the lectern, there was a sudden silence in the audience. After organizing his notes, he looked up to see their eager faces.
“Good morning. I am Bill Hendricks, Director of Operations for the Terrain Exploration and Relief Agency, a non-profit group which is known to most of you simply as TERA. We have branch offices around the world that have responded to numerous emergencies over the years including hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and famines. We are also actively involved with a number of countries in archaeological and paleontological excavations as well as natural resource development. Our headquarters are here in Huntsville. Almost four weeks ago now, one of my employees, Jacob Evers, was attacked by unknown persons while excavating a site in central Mongolia. Mr. Evers was shot in the leg but survived the encounter. A week later, on a research expedition in the Himalayas, Mr. Evers and his brother, Samuel, who is also employed by TERA, were attacked by gunmen in a helicopter that bore the marking of the Russian Federation.”
A low mumble of voices suddenly erupted from the audience.
“Now that I have made this statement, I want to be perfectly clear that I am in no way implicating the Russian government in this attack. Let me reemphasize, the helicopter’s livery was Russian. That does not mean that it was, in fact, Russian. The helicopter was an older transport model operated by a number of countries. The Russians have released a statement saying that they were not involved. We must accept that as the truth unless evidence indicates otherwise.
The Genesis Conspiracy Page 25