The Vilcabamba Prophecy: A Nick Randall Novel (17 page)

“How
do I know that you’re telling me the truth?”

“Your
name is Nick Randall, right? You have a daughter, Sam, who’s also an
archaeologist, and you have a son, John. Your wife was killed in a car
accident. Mike told me all about you. He looked up to you, Dr. Randall. He said
you would come for him and that you would help me. Please Dr. Randall, I don’t
want to die here…”

Glancing
again at Mike and realizing that there was nothing he could do, Randall gently
set him down on the bed.

“Good-bye,
Mike.”

He
glanced over at George. “Come on.”

Randall
went to the door, opened it and ran for the exit. George followed closely
behind. Consumed by grief, Randall dispensed with his usual routine of
carefully searching for soldiers, he simply ran for the safety of the jungle.
Upon reaching the heavy foliage, he dropped onto his knees and vomited,
repeatedly.

“First
Phil and now Mike. My God, what have I done?” Randall asked himself. He rubbed
at his eyes as if he were having a terrible dream and doing so would wake him
from his nightmare, but no such relief was coming. He collapsed to the ground
and lay in a state of shock, unmoving for several minutes. George looked on,
helpless to assist Randall in any way. Finally, Randall forced himself to his
feet and shuffled deeper into the safety of the jungle. George followed him,
not saying a word.

*
* * *

Sam looked at her
watch. Her father had been gone for 67 minutes, but she refused to accept that
he might not be returning. Finally, she saw movement in the distance. She
squatted low behind a large plant and craned her neck to look around the large
leaves obstructing her view. It became quickly apparent that the figure moving
in her direction was her father, but something was not right. He was moving
slowly, methodically, as if something was wrong with him. Sam’s initial
reaction was to call out to him to see if he was all right, but she fought back
the urge, choosing to keep watch on him instead. Another figure appeared behind
him. Sam’s heart beat faster.

After
several minutes passed, it was clear that the man following her father posed no
threat. At one point, the other man came to Randall’s side and held his head as
Randall doubled over. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like her father was
throwing up. Sam strained to make out the other face, but in spite of her
deepest hopes, it wasn’t Mike. Confused, she wondered aloud what was going on.
Sam decided it was safe to approach them, and as she got closer, she was
thankful to see that her father did not appear physically injured. As she drew
to within a few yards of him, she could see that he had been crying and seemed
oblivious to the outside world. The other man slowed his approach and stayed a
short distance from Sam and her father.

“Dad,
are you okay? What happened,” she said softly.

Randall
looked up absentmindedly, “He’s gone, Sam.”

“What
do you mean?”

“They
shot him. He’s gone. First Phil, now Mike.” Randall slumped to the ground, his
hands folded across his knees.

“Oh
my God, I am so sorry. Mike was a wonderful guy. I’m just so sorry.” Sam put
her arm around his shoulders, unsure of what else to say or do.

“They
were like sons to me, Sam. They trusted me and looked up to me, and I got them
both killed.” Randall lowered his head and wrapped his hands around it, shaking
from side to side. Sam held him, trying to comfort him. After a few moments,
she spoke softly.

“They
loved you, Dad. Whenever I talked to either of them, they always said how much
you meant to them.”

Sam
looked up at the other figure that had followed her father out of the jungle.
“Dad, who’s this?”

“His
name is George.
He’s an engineer
,
Dumond
was holding him hostage
.
He says his company built satellites for
Dumond
and
then they kidnapped him. He claims he knows what
Dumond
is really up to and can help us.”

“Can
we trust him? How do we know he’s not lying?”

“Mike
trusted him, Sam. He told him all about our family.” At the thought of Mike,
Randall’s head once again sank into his hands.

Sam
left her father’s side and walked straight over to George, her eyes never
leaving his face. George shifted uncomfortably. A combination of her piercing
eyes and her physical beauty was more than the shy engineer could take. She
stopped just a foot short of him.

“Who
are you and what do you want?”

“I
… I’m George Walker. I work for Gemini Orbital Services. Mr.
Dumond
hired my company to build four satellites for him.
He said he was going to use them to test a new technology he was developing. He
said he wanted to meet me to look at the last satellite and then his men
kidnapped me. They took me to this jungle compound and have been forcing me to
help them with their plan.”

Her
brown eyes were overwhelming. George looked down to break eye contact.

“How
do I know that any of this is true? For all we know, you could be working for
Dumond
. He could have hired you to befriend us and then
signal him when he’s ready to jump us again.” Sam tilted her head to catch
George’s gaze again. He was clearly nervous.

“No,
I swear I’m not working for him. Geez, I’m just an engineer! He was going to
kill me if I couldn’t get away. Please, I’ll help you and your dad, just don’t
send me back to that crazy man.”

 
“So what’s his plan, George? What is
Dumond
trying to do?”

“Like
I said, he hired my company to build four satellites for him. We already
launched three of them into orbit. The fourth one is going up next week. He
told us he was going to use the satellites as relay stations to test a new
technology his company had developed.”

“Go
on.”

“He
was going to bounce a large, ground-based laser beam off of the satellites to
ground stations and use it to power machines. He said his company was testing
the technology to see if it was feasible to deliver energy to any spot in the
world without having to build a nearby power plant. If it worked, his company
would be the only one that could offer to send power to anyone, anywhere in the
world.”

“But
that’s not what he’s really planning to do?” Sam asked.

George
shifted uncomfortably, trying to gather his thoughts. “Sort of. The problem is
that a laser that powerful would need huge amounts of energy. It’s just not
feasible with current technology…”

“And…”

“Then
I found out about the generating facility he’s building. It’s huge. Larger than
anything I’ve ever seen. He and his men said they had found a power source to
operate it. The scale of energy they talked about was off the charts!”

“So
what’s the plan, George? What’s
Dumond
going to do?”

“A
focused beam from a strong laser is pure energy. The problem so far has been
the impossibility of building a laser powerful enough to overcome the
dispersion caused by atmospheric interference. The other problem has been that
we haven’t had a strong enough power source to make it work. But, now,
Dumond
has built the laser, and if he gets his power source
working, he can actually power it. Once the system is working, he can deliver a
huge energy pulse anywhere on earth, or in space. The pulse we’re talking about
would be more than the energy needed to power a few simple machines. The energy
delivered would exceed the energy produced by both atomic bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.”

“He’s
created a super weapon!”

“Exactly.
He can destroy entire cities from space or use his system to take down
satellites.”

“What
was your role in this, George? What does
Dumond
want
you to do?”

“I’m
an electrical engineer, and I design systems to integrate the power systems and
the machinery they drive.
Dumond
wants me to look at
this power system and figure out how to use it to power his laser.”

“What
do you know about the power system?”

“Not
much. Just that it’s some sort of new technology that no one seems to
understand, and for some reason, it was developed out in the middle of nowhere.
Dumond
needs to relocate it to his power facility and
figure out how to hook it up to his laser. If he can’t, his whole plan goes up
in smoke.”

Sam
softened somewhat. She felt he was telling the truth. She took a deep breath,
realizing that the information she was about to share with George was going to
sound crazy, but she had no choice.

“George,
I need to explain something to you.”

Sam
told George how her father believed he had found the ancient underground city.
She also explained how
Dumond
had funded her father’s
field research so he could step in to take the power source as soon as they
found it. George listened intently, if somewhat incredulously, to some of the
details that Sam imparted.

“So
you’re saying that there’s an ancient civilization that’s thousands of years
old, made up of creatures which are possibly from another world, and that they
decided to set up camp in the middle of the Amazon rainforest?”

Sam
nodded.

“They
built a huge underground city and have been monitoring human activity from
there, using a secret power source that they developed. That’s the power source
that
Dumond
wants to use to power his laser, the one
that I’m supposed to figure out how to operate. Is that about right?”

She
could see that he wasn’t buying the story.

“I
know it sounds kind of crazy, but yes, that’s it.”

George
looked into Sam’s eyes. She was telling the truth, or at least what she
believed was the truth. Her explanation also clarified some of the conversation
he had overhead between
Dumond
and one of his men.
Although his analytical mind was telling him that this was all impossible, he
wanted to believe her.

“There’s
something else you should know, Sam. He believes in aliens, too,” George
offered.

“Who
believes in aliens?” Sam asked.

“
Dumond
. I overheard a conversation he was having with one
of his men. He claims that
he was abducted by aliens
when he was young and they did terrible things to him. Sam, he’s a psychopath,
and his experience with these aliens, real or imagined, warped the hell out of
him. He was talking about how they had the power to control his mind and body.
He said that after being abducted, he vowed he would find a way to get back at
them and use their power for himself. When he said it, he looked
possessed!
 
He’s scary as hell!”
George said, his eyes growing wide.

 
“It’s okay, George, you’re safe now,” Sam
said, taking his hand.

“Okay,
but what are we going to do?” George asked.

“Get
to the underground city first and stop them.”

George’s
eyes went wide with disbelief. He had the look of a small child who had just
been told that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were real. “You can’t be
serious?”

“I
am, and you’re coming with us.”

Sam
walked over to her father. He was still sitting on the ground, his head between
his knees. She put a hand on his shoulder.

“What
do I do now, Sam?” Randall asked.

“You
have to finish this, Dad. That’s what they would have wanted you to do.”

“I
don’t know if I can.”

“We’ll
do it together.”

She
glanced at George, who looked back without saying a word.

Randall
slowly rose to his feet, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Before
we try to find
Vilcabamba
, there’s something else we
need to do, first. When
Kristoph
was holding me
captive, I met another scientist who knew about the medallion and its
backstory.”

Randall
explained the trip to the tomb with Richter and how
Kristoph’s
men had executed him. He also told her about the book in the sarcophagus.

“The
purpose of the medallion must be explained in that book and we need to
understand what the medallion is for.”

“I
found the secret note in your journal explaining that the medallion is ‘THE
KEYSTONE’ but to what?” Sam asked.

“The
answer to that question is in that book,” Randall replied.

“So
now we’re going into the jungle to find a book in a tomb?” George asked.

“No.
Sam and I are going George. You need to wait here for us,” Randall answered.

George
shifted, nervously, “How far away is it?”

“I
don’t think it’s far. We should be back before nightfall.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Randall and Sam walked through
the shrouded pathway on their journey back to find the tomb that Richter had
shown him. Still in a state of shock over losing Mike, he found his mind
wandering between the past and the present. Once again, Randall felt the
humidity beating him down as he trudged along through the jungle. The path was
relatively clear, but hiking through the undergrowth was still exhausting.
Pushing aside his current predicament for a moment, Randall found himself
wondering how much longer he could realistically keep up with the physical
demands of
field work
. While these were not typical
circumstances, the simple fact was that Randall was getting older and working
in these conditions wasn’t as easy as it had been when he was a young man.

When Richter
had said the path led to a compound in the middle of the jungle, Randall had
known it was
Dumond’s
base Richter had seen. Despite
this knowledge, finding the path hadn’t been easy. The compound was large, and
he and Sam had to be careful while they searched for the opening to the trail.
On several occasions, they had had to hide as guards protecting the perimeter
of the camp made their rounds. Finally, after a great deal of searching, Sam
had found the entrance that led into the main part of the trail connecting
Dumond’s
base with the tomb. What Randall hadn’t known was
how far the compound would be from the tomb.

“So the burial
mound is along this route?” Sam asked hoping to break the silence.

“Yes. According
to Dr. Richter, he had traveled along this path from
Dumond’s
base, all the way to the coast where
Kristoph’s
men
had dropped us off. We started from a clearing on that end of the path and
walked for about an hour until we came to the tomb. The problem is, I’m not
sure how far away we are on this end. I’m hoping it won’t take us too long to
find it again.”

“Why didn’t
Kristoph’s
men take the book when you were in the tomb?”

“They’re
trained killers, not scientists.
Kristoph
wanted them
to get the medallion and hadn’t said anything about a book. When they saw that
the medallion itself wasn’t there, they didn’t search the coffin. They just
killed Richter,” Randall stopped for a moment to consider the loss of Richter
as well. He quickly realized he didn’t have time to reflect on the grief of losing
others with so much hanging on their success, so he resumed walking. “To be
honest Sam, they knocked me unconscious. For all I know, they may have taken
the book, but we need to see if it’s still there. I’m hoping there might be
some information in it that can shed some light on the purpose of the
medallion.”

“If the
medallion is so important, how did the tribe lose it?”

Randall
smiled,
he could imagine the wheels turning in his
daughter’s head.

“The legend
tells about a woman tricking the Chief and stealing the medallion for herself,
thinking it would grant her great power. She took the medallion and went back
to her people but when they found out what she had done, they killed her,
burying her in the tomb with the medallion around her neck as punishment.”

“How did you
get it? I remember Mom getting the call and driving out to pick it up for you,
but she never made it back.”

Randall felt a
twinge of pain, even after so many years, the memory of that day was still
painful.
So much loss.
He sighed.

“After your
mother died, I didn’t go back to the University for several weeks. When I
finally came back, there was a small package on my desk, wrapped in brown
paper. I opened it and found the medallion inside. There was no message with
it. In fact, there was no writing on the paper except my name. Given my mental
state at the time, I didn’t ask questions. I just put it in my desk drawer and
forgot about it. The package sat there for months. By the time I found it again
and asked around, no one remembered how it had gotten to my office.”

“Maybe I can
help explain,” a voice called out from the trail behind them.

Randall spun
and found
himself
facing a man who looked vaguely
familiar. He was a little shorter than Randall, and had a slighter build. His
face was humorless, and his dark black hair was long, framing his face. He was
holding a gun at his waist, pointing it in Randall’s direction.

“Who are you?”
Sam said, turning to face him as well.

“Your dad knows
me, or should I say, he should know. Remember me Nick?”

“Charles. What
in the hell are you doing here?” Randall said, his memory finally clicking in.

“I’m here for
the medallion, Nick. That’s why I orchestrated all of this.”

“Dad, who is
this guy?” Sam asked.

“My name is
Charles Young, and I worked with your dad a long time ago. He and I didn’t
really get along did we, Nick?”

“He and I were
graduate students in Georgetown together. When I was going through my rough
patch, he caused me more grief than anyone at the college,” Randall replied.

Charles walked
closer to Randall and Sam, keeping a careful aim on them as he did so.

“You forgot to
mention that you cost me my job,” Charles said.

“No, you cost
yourself your job. You were so busy trying to score points with Dr. Adele and
the rest of the tenured faculty by making my life a living hell that you forgot
your purpose as a student. If you had focused on your research, you would be a
tenured Professor by now,” Randall replied.

“I guess we’ll
just have to agree to disagree. The important thing now is getting my medallion
back. Do you have it?”

“What do you
mean your medallion, and how did you know we would be here on this trail?”
Randall asked.

“I’ve been
planning this for some time. I’m the one who sent you the medallion, but of
course, I didn’t let you know it was from me. If I had, you never would have
accepted it. Once the University fired me, I struggled to find work. I finally
landed at Bates, a small Liberal Arts school in Maine. Perhaps you’ve heard of
it?”

“You knew
Richter.”

A sickening
smile spread across Charles’ face.

“I met him when
I was working at the college. It was easy to manipulate him. He was so
desperate for a friend that when I showed a little interest, he jumped on it
like a starving dog that hadn’t eaten in weeks.”

Sam shook her
head in disgust.

“So you knew
about his research?” Randall asked.

“Of course. He
helped me piece together the location of this tomb, and I retrieved the
medallion without his knowledge. Of course, as you can imagine, it cost me a
pretty penny to get it. I had to sell everything I owned, and leverage myself
to the hilt, to get the money to find that damn thing. It wasn’t cheap to hire
locals to hack through this horrible jungle.”

“Why Charles,
why would you go through all of this trouble? You can’t possibly expect to get
something out of this?”

“The legend
says that the one who possesses the medallion can control an advanced
technology unlike anything else. Do you know what that means? Fame, fortune and
best of all, revenge on everyone who has ever crossed me, starting with you.
Now, if you don’t mind, we’re losing daylight. We need to find the tomb so you
can unravel the mystery of the medallion and explain how I can use it.”

The group moved
forward through the canopied path, stopping occasionally to drink from their
canteens. Randall tried to strike up a conversation with Charles to dissuade
him from his quest.

“You don’t need
to do this. If you still have your job at the college, you can still become a
tenured professor.”

“Do you know
how long that would take? I like my plan better,” Charles responded.

“So you’re
willing to murder innocent people for money?”

Charles shifted
uncomfortably, his face becoming serious.

“If you do what
I say, you and your daughter might live.”

Nick turned to
face Charles.

“You know I
wasn’t responsible for what happened to you.”

Charles
shoulders sagged, but he quickly recovered.

“I want that
medallion, and you’re going to help me get it.”

They walked on
and after some time, they arrived at a familiar spot. Having walked from the
opposite direction, the opening was now on the south of the trail. After
exchanging a glance, Randall and Sam walked into the circular clearing and to
the entrance in the side of the hill.

“Stop there,”
Charles said. “Ms. Randall, you’re coming in with me.”

“The hell she
is. She has nothing to do…”

“I think you’re
forgetting your place here. I’m the one with the gun, not you. If you didn’t
want your daughter to be a part of this, then you shouldn’t have brought her.”

Randall began
to move towards Charles when Sam stepped in front of him. She placed her arm on
his shoulder.

“I’ll be all
right, Dad, he won’t hurt me. Will I know what I’m looking for when I check the
coffin?”

Randall’s anger
subsided as he looked into his daughter’s eyes. He then turned to face Charles.

“You wanted me
to come here to help you understand the purpose of the medallion. If I don’t go
in with you and there are symbols to interpret, how are you going to know what
they say? Let Sam stay here, and I promise I won’t try anything. I’ll do as you
say, and I will interpret anything we find.”

Randall watched
Charles face as he mulled the situation.

“Fine, but I’m
warning you, Nick, if you try anything, I’ll shoot you…and then her,” Charles
stated, pointing his gun at Sam.

“I understand.”

The two men
entered the earthen mound, Randall in front with his flashlight and Charles
close behind, his gun pressed into Randall’s back. Randall stopped for a moment
as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He felt the hard steel of the gun barrel
dig into the small of his back.

“No tricks!”

“I’m just
letting my eyes adjust to the darkness before moving in.”

They resumed
walking and had soon covered the distance to the first chamber. Randall stopped
for a moment and shone his light around the room. He then shuffled the
remaining way into the rear chamber, where the coffin lay in the same state as
before. Richter’s lifeless body lay slumped on the floor, the blood pooled
under the gaping gunshot wound in his chest.

“My God…”
Charles said.

“You’re
responsible for his death.”

After a long
pause, Charles spoke, “Get on with it, Nick.”

Randall moved
gingerly around Richter’s body and stood by the side of the coffin. Shining his
light in, he once again looked to the feet of the skeleton and saw the wrapped
package. He reached in with his free hand, slowly guiding it through the beam
of light until he could grasp the rectangular parcel. It wouldn’t move. He
grabbed it more tightly and pulled harder, but again, failed to pull it out. He
leaned into the casket, looking more carefully at the bundle. It was wedged
under a small rectangular section of rock protruding from the
side wall
of the box and a small raised triangular piece of
rock on the base of the box.

“What in the
world is taking you so long?”

“It’s wedged
under some sort of ledge in the coffin. I can’t seem to get it free.”

Charles shoved
Randall out of the way, almost causing him to trip over Richter’s body.
Catching
himself
. Randall shined his light at Charles,
who reached in and pressed against the rectangular ledge with his gun hand,
while grabbing the package with the other. The stone moved under Charles’
pressure, receding into the side of the coffin. Charles wrenched the parcel
free and turned to face Randall.

“See, Nick,
sometimes you just need to be a little more aggressive.”

As Charles
spoke, Randall detected a faint rumbling sound. It became louder and the
earthen tomb began to shake. A look of confusion came over Charles’s face.