Lost Voyage (6 page)

9

Vallejos had a very displeased look on his face as his head of security told him the news of what had unfolded. This was the second time Esperanza’s forces had failed to capture those responsible for the death of his men and he was seething with anger.

“You’ve proven you cannot even handle two men who are nothing more than scientists. I will not tolerate any more incompetence. You have one last chance to bring these men to me, Kervin, or it will be you who answers for it.”

Esperanza was humiliated. This was something he had never felt before. Having to walk back to town after his vehicle was incapacitated made him extremely agitated, but he knew this was not the time to vent that frustration.

“With much respect, Andres, these are not just two mere scientists. Scientists don’t carry military grade weapons. And the shot he fired was an accurate kill shot to the throat of my man. These men have prior military training. I’m sure of it.”

“Your man?” Vallejos said in an agitated tone. “That soldier and the other five men he killed were all
my
men! Do not forget your place, Kervin. You work for me! These two men are killing my soldiers and you have failed to resolve this situation. If I need to find someone who can get the job done, I will!”

Esperanza knew his place. “That won’t be necessary. I will present them both to you shortly.” He turned and walked out of his employer’s office. The scowl on his face revealed an anger that was culminating to a boiling point.

Shortly after the departure, there was a knock at the door. Vallejos looked up and invited the portly gentleman in.

He walked over to his guest and shook his hand. “Geovany, my good friend. It’s always a pleasure to see you. Forgive me, as I have been busy.”

“Ah, Andres. Good to see you. I’ve been trying to reach you for a while now.”

Geovany Rojas was a long-time consultant for Vallejos. He was a heavier man, standing five feet ten inches and weighing slightly less than three hundred pounds. He had a thin stream of black hair on his head which displayed a rapidly receding hairline, and his chubby cheeks looked as if they were stuffed with wadded up rolls of paper. Even his spectacles appeared to be too small for his face. He had been under the employ of the cartel leader for the past six years and had proven to be a valuable asset when it came to ascertaining information and handling legal issues.

Vallejos offered him a seat and then sat down in his leather chair. “What news do you have for me?”

“Well, I did some checking at the hotel where Kervin found the two men. Their names are Sean Mercer and Pat Vigil. They work for an organization called NESA. It’s an environmental research group and they’re down here studying the river and water supply. It appears that just before they left the hotel, one of the men made two calls, both to the United States. The desk clerk overheard the man talking, but could only put together bits and pieces of the conversation. He said he overheard something about a lost ship with a very large amount of gold on it, and that these two men were looking for it somewhere in the nearby vicinity.”

Vallejos was intrigued by what he just heard. “A lost ship? What would a ship be doing in the middle of Nicaragua? And what about this gold?”

Rojas shrugged his shoulders, apparently baffled by it as well. “I tried to do a quick search, but nothing shows up about any ship that was lost either on the river, or anywhere else for that matter.” He continued, but with a more somber look on his face,

“The other part the clerk overheard, however, was of a much bigger concern. He said he heard something about bodies in shallow graves. You know I would never question you, Andres, but we cannot have the locals inquiring about your business practices.”

Vallejos shrugged him off. “Let them think what they want. It is of no concern to me. I have the large majority of government officials either on my payroll or at a point where they’re too scared to do anything. So, let them think what they will.”

Rojas knew there was no way of rationalizing the point to his employer, so he moved past it. “It also turns out the two men were overheard talking about a village they had spent time at earlier in the day, and something about a book possibly containing information about a ship. I think that’s more than just a weird coincidence. We searched their room, but found nothing. So, either this book is with them...” he was interrupted before he could complete his sentence.

“Or it’s still in the village,” Vallejos finished.

The two men wrapped up their conversation with some small talk, and then Rojas was sent on his way. The cartel leader stood there for a moment and pondered the possibility of the lost ship being somewhere in the vicinity. He then picked up the phone to make a call. After it rang a few times, a voice answered on the other end and he spoke.

“Kervin, come back to the compound at once. I have something I need you to do.”

***

Arriving early in the afternoon to the site, Mercer and Vigil began doing a little reconnaissance of the area, but turned up nothing.

“Luck doesn’t appear to be on our side,” said Mercer.

Vigil was standing on top of a tree stump, staring off into the distance. “Not at all. Unless you count finding fossilized volcanic rock lucky. Why don’t we head a little further down? We might find something that’ll give us at least a glimmer of hope.”

Mercer agreed and they started walking down a trail to take them further inland. As they traversed the area, he began recalling the events of the past few days. He thought about what he and his partner would find – if anything. He wondered how long it would be before the man they had confronted would return for them, and how many soldiers there might be the next time.

On the forefront of his mind was Emily. He was assured she was safe and on her way home and he hoped he would indeed get to see her again one day soon. He was carefully scanning the trees and brush of the jungle for any signs of the possible remnants of Tamarindo, when Vigil broke the silence.

“What’s on your mind, partner?”

“Just think. We’re possibly standing on top of a goldmine. What if the Alyssa Marie didn’t make it out safely before the eruption? There’s not only the ship and the gold that was lost, but all those aboard who perished as well. If we do somehow manage to find the wreckage from a disaster that occurred over a century and a half ago, there’s a lot more to recover than just some lost gold.”

Vigil, taking in his friend’s comment, responded, “If the impact shattered the ship, the remains could be spread out over a mile or more. Add to that how much debris and rock it’s buried under. Then there’s the logistical aspect to weigh. How do we get ten thousand pounds of gold out of a jungle? And more importantly, how do we do it with a cavalry of mercenaries following our every move?”

Mercer shrugged whimsically. “I haven’t quite figured that out yet. Let’s see if we can find the ship first. Then we’ll worry about the particulars.”

For the next forty five minutes, they continued to explore the complex terrain, finding visible signs of volcanic rock and solidified ash composts. They came to a clearing, which opened into a grassy field that was about fifty yards to the tree line on the other side.

The cloud cover overhead was just enough to give them a break from the sun that had beamed down on them for the past week. While scanning the open area, they noticed a larger mound which instantly caught their eyes, as it was in much higher proportion to the rest of the field.

Carefully examining the area and finding nothing of interest, they gradually wandered over to the protruding grassy hill. Vigil threw his backpack to the ground and climbed on top of the six foot mound, proclaiming, “King of the hill! I’ll take on all challengers to the throne!”

Mercer laughed. “Alright, King Nothing. I accept your challenge.”

Like two kids in a schoolyard, they bantered with each other for a minute before any actual tactical moves were made. Mercer began easing his way up the hill, while Vigil took steady and careful aim of his attacker, waiting for the right time to pounce from his perch above.

Mercer flinched to the left, causing the King to twist his body just enough to get him off balance, and then quickly jerked to the right where he caught his friend by surprise with a leg tackle. Vigil fell backwards and tried to roll his attacker down the hill, but the brute strength of his partner was too much to overcome. Vigil grabbed him by the waist, flipped him upside down, and watched as his friend tumble to the bottom of the hill.

To add insult to injury, he leaped off his throne to deliver a final blow to his defeated opponent, but Mercer was ready for him. Throwing his feet up in the air, he caught the diving Vigil square in the chest, tossing him to the side like a beanbag. As he landed, he let out a moan.

Winded, Mercer asked, “Had enough, your Highness?”

Vigil grunted, “Yea, the throne is temporarily vacant.”

As the two exchanged a few laughs, a ray of sunlight broke through the cloud cover. Mercer caught a glare in his eye from a flickering object about fifteen feet away.

Interested as to what it could be, he hopped up and went over to it. As he crouched down, he began wiping the dirt from a silver object imbedded in a rock. It was only a few inches in diameter and with the exception of the area being caught by the sunlight; the surface was as dull as the color of the moon. It took him a few moments to clear the debris from around it. It could have been nothing at all, but being the history buff he was, he was always hoping for that next great find when it came to any sort of antiquity.

After about five minutes of scraping the ground and finally prying the mystery object from the grip of the rock, he stood up and wiped the face of the item as he stared at it curiously.

“What is it?” asked Vigil.

Mercer stood there for a few seconds without responding. Then he looked at Vigil, who asked again, “Well? What is it?”

He finally answered. “It’s a pocket watch.”

Vigil suddenly had a strange tone in his voice, as something unexpectedly caught his eye as well. “A pocket watch, huh? Do you think it belonged to him?”

Confused by the question, Mercer looked at his partner and saw him looking right back past where he was standing. He turned around and saw a ditch just twenty yards away from where he had been digging. Lying in the ditch was a man who looked like he couldn’t have been dead for more than a few days. Next to him was a line of bodies that stretched about thirty feet down to the other end of the trench.

Mercer estimated there to be about fifty bodies, all of which had been murdered in a brutal manner. One of the bodies in particular grabbed his attention. It was that of a man with a gaping wound in his chest wearing a red polo shirt, which had the letters
USGS
embroidered on it.

***

Vallejos had just completed a walk-through of the compound at the cartel’s base of operations. Situated on over a hundred acres of land, the complex resembled a military base. Bunkers and munitions depots covered the landscape, along with hundreds of soldiers and their shanties throughout the wooded area. Secure in the fact all operations were running normally, he made his way back into the main building which housed his office, as well as other administrative facilities.

The two-story structure sat atop an immense system of tunnels and caves that had been dug out over the years to house prisoners and to provide escape routes should the compound ever be invaded. The interior walls were a burgundy color and accentuated the dark brown furniture that lined the floors and hallways.

A staircase in the middle of the foyer led to the upstairs floor where his office was located, and even though there were other rooms on the floor, he didn’t allow them to be used as personal work spaces. He was a paranoid man who liked his private space and despised others impeding on his territory. The remainder of his personal staff was confined to the downstairs, where they carried out their day to day operations.

As he walked into his office, he sauntered over to the window overlooking the compound. The events of the past few days had made him uneasy, and he thought of ways to make the men who were responsible for the death of his soldier pay dearly. He was so enthralled in his emotions that he never heard the tapping sound on the door behind him. It was only after he heard a deep, stern voice call his name that he finally became aware of his surroundings once again.

“Andres, is everything okay?”

“Yes, Kervin. Everything is fine. Sit down.”

He did as he was instructed. As Vallejos talked, he listened with great interest about a book that may contain the location of a ship and a large quantity of gold. The greed in the enforcer’s eyes was hard to conceal and he had to hold himself back from any show of emotion.

After his employer finished, Esperanza said, “The two men may have been on their way there today. If that’s the case, then we at least have an idea of where they might be looking. I’ll leave before sunrise and check out the local villages in the territory.”

“Very good. I trust you know what to do if you find this book. I expect you to get the job done right this time.”

Esperanza acknowledged the sharp comment with a nod of his head. He stood to leave and was almost to the door when Vallejos made one more request.