Infinity's Gateway, page 17
The fog was thick, but as best he could tell, there wasn’t anything over there waiting for him. With pistol in hand, he stepped into the warm water and started to wade across. “There’s some mud on the bottom, but it’s mostly rock,” reported Colton. “Don’t keep the line too taut, Corporal, I have no plans to linger in this stream.”
The current wasn’t strong enough to be an issue and the water turned out to be rather shallow, the deepest part staying well below his waist. Colton crossed the stream without incident. He looked to see if he’d picked up any leeches, or any other unwanted creatures. Unwrapping the rope from around his body, he tightly secured it to a tree. He then signaled for the rest of them to cross. Hill and Logan came across next, bringing Colton’s gear with them. They then took up defensive positions. The rest of the team followed, with Corporal Lee bringing up the rear.
The game trail continued into the jungle, snaking its way through the trees, but generally kept them heading in the right direction based on the drone’s locater beacon. The day was turning hot and even though the mist never let up, they soon began to somewhat dry out from their forge across the stream. The terrain started to become rockier with large boulders strewn across the ground, the trees getting thicker and taller. The biting insects seemed to thin out.
They soon found themselves running parallel to a bluff, the cliff face towering upwards into the mist. On occasion the sun would break through, giving filtered light in some of the small clearings they passed through. Three times now they’d stopped as large creatures bolted away from them, but hidden by the thick foliage, they weren’t able to get a clear look at any of them. The air was saturated with numerous scents and odors, all combining into something that reinforced Colton’s earlier assessment, comparing it to a Louisiana swamp that had gone bad. It was not appealing in any way, shape, or form.
Corporal Lee’s fist shot up into the air and he dropped to one knee, signaling the rest of them to stop and take cover. Colton had spotted the problem at the same time as Lee and moved up next to him. Ahead of them, up in one of the taller trees, or possibly on the cliff face, something had reflected the sun. None of them moved, watching and listening.
With Privates Diaz and Johnson watching their rear, Captain Garrett carefully moved up to join Colton and Lee. Lee was looking through binoculars and soon found what he was looking for. Handing the binoculars to Colton, he pointed about two-thirds up one of the trees that was almost touching the cliff.
“What is it?” asked Garrett as Colton studied it through the binoculars.
“Not sure, sir,” answered Corporal Lee. “It’s up in that tree and it’s got some size to it. It may be a blind of sorts.”
“Sniper?” asked Garrett.
“That’s my concern,” said Lee.
“Captain, take a look and see if you can figure out what that is,” said Colton, handing her the binoculars. “There’s definitely something up there, but I can’t make it out.”
Garrett soon spotted what they’d been looking at, but the mist, along with the branches and leaves from the surrounding trees, kept her from getting a good look. “I can’t tell what that is either. How did you even spot it? It’s so well hidden.”
“The sun reflected off something,” answered Lee. “My first thought was a rifle scope.”
“I saw it too,” said Colton. “Corporal, take Hill with you. See if you can get a better look.”
Corporal Lee and Private Hill advanced, taking full advantage of the available cover. Colton soon lost sight of them. The waiting was terrible. Conditions being what they were, if the two men were in trouble, Colton would have no way of knowing.
About twenty minutes later, Private Hill returned. “Corporal says it’s okay to advance. There’s something stuck, high up, in one of the larger trees. We’re not sure, but it may be lodged into that rock face as well.”
They all followed Hill and soon found Corporal Lee at the base of a huge tree, the trunk at least fifteen feet in diameter. “It appears to be about fifty or sixty feet up. Still not sure what it is, but it’s not moving. What’s interesting is that it doesn’t look natural.”
“What do you mean, Corporal?” asked Garrett.
“Whatever it is, I don’t think it was put there by nature. I’ve done the best I can from here to get a good look at it, but it appears to be camouflaged. I can’t tell where it ends, and the tree begins.”
“Any tree climbers in the group?” asked Colton.
Lee smiled at this. “Yes sir, I’m pretty good at it and Logan can climb anything.”
“Okay,” said Colton, “let’s see what’s up there.”
Lee and Logan made ready for the ascent, both connecting rappelling lines to harnesses they’d brought. Taking only light weapons with them, they started up the massive tree. Not too far off in the distance, a loud growl could be heard, but none of them could tell if the animal that’d made it was heading towards them, or away from them. The team waited as the two men continued to climb. It was slow going, but they soon made it to the thing they’d spotted.
After a few minutes, they started back down. The descent was far easier than the climb up and they both seemed to be far more relaxed. As soon as he was back on the ground, Lee went to Colton and Garrett to report.
“It’s a plane,” said Lee, “or at least what’s left of it. The wings are gone, but a good part of the fuselage is still there. My guess is that the sun reflected off a small piece of glass from the cockpit. The strange part is that it’ll probably be there forever.”
“Tree sap, sir,” chimed in Logan. “Don’t know how long it’s been up there, but it’s completely covered in amber-colored tree sap. Looks to be at least an inch or two thick.”
“Any sign of human remains?” asked Garrett.
“No sir,” said Lee. “And it’s not a civilian craft. Sir, that plane is one of ours. Looks like an old navy plane.”
“Are you sure?” asked Colton.
“Yes sir, but it’s very old,” said Lee. “It not only looks old, but for the tree sap to have coated it the way it did, I’d say it’s been up there for at least forty or fifty years.”
Logan handed Colton a small piece of paper. “We got lucky. Not only could we read the numbers on the side of the plane, I was also able to get these numbers off a part of the engine. The fuselage was torn away from most of the engine, and the sap that covered it is crystal clear. Not only that, but when you look at it from just the right angle, the sap magnifies things.”
“Bannister,” said Colton, studying the numbers from the plane that Logan had given him. “I need that radio.”
“Could you tell if it had been shot down?” asked Garrett.
“There’s not enough left up there to really figure out what happened,” said Corporal Lee. “All what’s left is about eight or nine feet of plane. That said, I didn’t see any holes in it. Did you, Logan?”
“No sir, not a one. Not sure how it ended up in that tree, but I didn’t see any signs that it’d been shot down or on fire when it came down.”
Colton gave the numbers off the plane to MacKay. Meinhard took them and called Sahir so that he could run them through Argos. “So far, we haven’t seen a soul,” said Colton. “We’re hearing all kinds of wildlife. Some of it sounds like its coming from some good-sized animals, but we haven’t come across any of them yet.”
“Good to hear, Commander,” said MacKay. “Watch yourself.”
Garrett told the men that they’d be taking a fifteen-minute break. Lookouts were posted, and the rest of the men sat down. “Certainly didn’t expect to find a plane wreck up in one of these trees,” said Garrett.
“Neither did I,” said Colton. “Although in one way, finding that plane is a bit of a relief. At least we know someone has been here before us.” Colton was now able to let go of some of the crazier thoughts that he’d been entertaining. Sadly, the time they were spending waiting on an answer from the Eclipse was the last time he would think of things as being wholly sane.
They heard the radio beep and Bannister brought it to Colton. “It’s Captain MacKay, sir. He wants to talk with you.”
“Thank you,” said Colton, taking the radio from him. “What’s going on, Captain?”
“That’s what I was getting ready to ask you, Commander. You wouldn’t be trying to pull one over on us, would you?”
Colton looked at Garrett, a puzzled expression on this face. “Not sure I’m following you, Captain. What are you talking about?”
“The numbers on that plane you found, would you please give them to me again?”
“Certainly,” said Colton, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the crumpled piece of paper. “Here goes,” he said, reading them to him once again.
The radio stayed silent for a moment, then MacKay came back on. “This is on the level, right, Colton?”
“Captain, what’s wrong?” said Colton.
“The plane you found disappeared back in 1945 from the Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Base.”
“Okay,” said Colton. “What’s so strange about that?”
“That plane was part of Flight 19,” said MacKay. “It, and four other planes just like it, was on a training mission. They took off from Fort Lauderdale and once they were in the air, everything seemed to go wrong. Radios, navigational equipment, everything stopped working like it was supposed to. The men on the ground tried everything they could think of, but Flight 19 never returned. All five planes disappeared. There were no bodies, no wreckage, no oil spills, nothing. They all disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. It’s the case all the wackado Bermuda Triangle types mention. That’s what’s so strange.”
Colton looked at Garrett, trying to make sense out of what MacKay had just said. “This is nuts. Where are we?” In Colton’s mind he thought, Wait a minute; we’re going to be heroes. We just solved one of the biggest mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle. The thought brought a smile to Colton’s face. Then his brain said, Or we’re in hell.
CHAPTER 13
“Over the last twenty-four hours, thanks to the efforts of everyone in this room, we’ve been able to pull together a great deal of data,” said Sahir. Dr. Meinhard, along with Dr. Brennan and Dr. Chudzik, were anxious to get their hands on the analysis Sahir and his team had been frantically working to complete. Meinhard had been quite vocal in his objections about having to wait. He made it clear that he felt his team to be far superior to Sahir’s, and because of that they should have been allowed to participate in all that Sahir’s team was doing. He even went so far as to lodge a formal complaint with MacKay. Captain MacKay filed the complaint in the appropriate receptacle.
Except for Sahir, they’d all grabbed a quick lunch and were now gathered in the small conference room connected to Sahir’s office, in the same secure area as Argos. Sahir was particularly glad that Lt. Commander Mercer had been able to join them. Sahir knew that he’d be depending on Mercer for direction regarding their next steps.
“The data from the drones sent out to study the landmass, as well as from the submersibles launched by Lt. Commander Mercer, has been reviewed by my team. That data was also automatically downloaded into Argos. The information, as well as the conclusions I’m about to go over with you, have all been verified by Argos,” said Sahir, setting the stage for what he knew was going to be a very difficult meeting.
“What about the shots we took of the night sky?” asked Mercer. “Were you able to get an explanation for what’s going on there?”
“I must have missed out on that one,” said Dr. Brennan. “Is there some question regarding the stars?”
“Yes, there most certainly is,” answered Mercer. “Captain MacKay and I first noticed it right after that wave of energy rolled over us. Let me just say that nothing is where it’s supposed to be. It’s completely wrong.”
“I’m not following you,” continued Dr. Brennan. “When you tell us that nothing is where it’s supposed to be, what exactly are you saying?”
“I really don’t know how to put it any plainer,” said Mercer. “I’ve studied the stars for years; Captain MacKay even more than I have. That night, not long after that wave hit us, Captain MacKay, Colton, and I all stepped outside the bridge for a breath of fresh air. It was MacKay who first spotted it, drawing my attention to the sky. We looked for the North Star, the Big Dipper, and Polaris. They weren’t there, or rather they weren’t where they’re supposed to be. Polaris goes in a big circle every twenty-six thousand years and it wasn’t even close to where you’d normally see it.”
“So, you’re saying we’re twenty-six thousand years in the future?” asked Dr. Brennan.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Think of the change as being much more dramatic. When we went inside it was summer and when we stepped back out, it was winter. But, . . .” Mercer paused, “it wasn’t the next winter. Polaris is easy to spot. It’s our location to the constellation of Hercules that measures Deep Time.”
“Deep Time?” scoffed Meinhard. “This is sounding more like deep manure.”
Mercer inhaled deeply, doing his best to ignore Meinhard’s rudeness. “The sun is a star that circles around the galactic core once every fifty thousand years. The galaxy itself is moving away from other galaxies, although there’s some speculation as to the speed. There are, however, constants in the universe. As humans, we’re just used to the small ones such as the earth rotates once a day, goes around the sun in a year, the magnetic field is aligned in a certain way, so forth and so on. We don’t need the big ones.”
“So exactly what are you trying to tell us?” asked Dr. Chudzik.
“All I’m saying is that on top of everything else we can’t explain, the position of the stars above has added to the confusion. That said, I’m going to turn this briefing back to Mr. Sahir.”
“I’d like to start with the drones we flew up and down the coast, as well as the one we sent into the interior,” said Sahir. “Unfortunately, as far as we can tell, the ground fog, or haze, stays in place throughout the day. It never burned off like we hoped it would. So, due to that, the drones couldn’t give us too much in the way of usable data. Dr. Chudzik, however, did give us some additional items to dig into, based on some of the plants she was able to get a clear look at and identify.”
“I’m afraid identify is a little too strong. What I gave to Mr. Sahir was more in the neighborhood of being several good guesses,” said Chudzik. “A few of the plants that I took note of appear to be very similar to some species of plants growing in Hawaii, as well as some other islands in the South Pacific. But, to be completely straightforward, due to the limited visibility, it’s hard to be sure.”
“Initially, we were not able to identify any of the plants from the pictures,” said Sahir. “We also tried to determine our location by mapping the coastline and feeding that into Argos. Amazingly, even Argos came up empty on the plants as well as the coastline.”
“You said ‘initially.’ I’m guessing that you have been able to identify some of the plants after all,” said Dr. Brennan.
“We think so,” said Sahir. “Interestingly, our being able to identify them is tied in to the analysis of the night sky. That is what ended up opening the door for us. But again, if I may, I’ll come back to that.”
“Please, Lieutenant, are you trying to be deliberately obtuse, or are you just too scattered to present your findings in a coherent manner?” barked Meinhard, sitting up in his chair, raising his high-pitched voice for emphasis. “Were you able to identify them or not?”
Before he could respond, Mercer interjected himself into the exchange. “Dr. Meinhard, I have to assume that you have achieved some level of accomplishment in your given field, or you wouldn’t be on this ship. I respect that. But so long as you are on board the Eclipse, you will show the proper respect to its crew. I’ve served with Lieutenant Sahir for three years and he is a very intelligent and capable officer. I am confident that we will get a very thorough and complete briefing from him. I’m equally confident that he is giving us that briefing in the manner he believes will present the data in the clearest light. Do you understand what I’m saying to you, Doctor?”
It was clear that Dr. Meinhard was not used to being reprimanded. He’d also, on many occasions, made it equally clear that he held himself above and apart from the military personnel serving on the Eclipse, which made Mercer’s reprimand a square pill for him to swallow. His face flushed, turning a dark pink, but he managed to hold himself in check. Meinhard’s sense of self-preservation recognized that Lt. Commander Mercer was not a man he wanted to challenge. At least not today.
“Yes,” mumbled Dr. Meinhard begrudgingly. “I understand. My apologies, Mr. Sahir.”
“I appreciate that, Dr. Meinhard,” said Sahir. “And I do understand your frustration. It is the same frustration that we experienced. It wasn’t until we had enough pieces of the puzzle that we were finally able to draw our conclusions, and then we had them verified by Argos. Please bear with me, Doctor. We will get there. All of this is very important. It is also important to remember that Argos is not an all-knowing god. It just correlates more content than we do.”
“As many of you now know, the Eclipse is a very special ship,” Mercer interjected. “It has capabilities far and above any other ship in the navy, Argos being the primary differentiator. When Lieutenant Sahir informed me that Argos could identify the shorelines mapped by the drones, I offered to send up HAPS.”
“Is that another kind of drone?” asked Dr. Chudzik.
“I’d never heard of it either,” said Sahir, “much less that we had them on board.”
“You’re exactly right, Dr. Chudzik,” answered Mercer. “It is another kind of drone. In fact, it’s the latest in drone technology. HAPS stands for High Altitude Pseudo Satellite. Not sure if you’re a Star Trek fan or not, but it looks a great deal like a Klingon bird of prey.”
