The Cain Conspiracy (Harvey Bennett Thrillers Book 8), page 10
“Well, when you’re shaking hands with someone for the first time after putting it on, you don’t want to turn their creamy palm into a hacky-sack.”
“It’s that strong?”
“Stronger,” Reggie said, nodding. “Titanium used to be one of the strongest things we had, but recently some dorks at MIT figured out how to create a lattice-shaped structure out of graphene.”
Ben looked at him blankly.
“That means it’s ten times stronger than steel and about five times lighter. And they can effectively print it out with a 3D printer.”
“Wow,” Ben said. “I didn’t know things had advanced that much.”
Reggie nodded. “Yeah, it’s crazy. I’m only just now starting to understand what it all means. But, at the very least, I’ll be able to shake hands like a normal dude. And pull a trigger when I need to.”
“Hopefully without breaking it off.”
“Yeah, they installed a thrust guide that acts as a force multiplier. Zeroed out it’s effectively the strength I had before. Turn it up to 10 and it crushes men’s heads like they’re a melon.”
Ben raised an eyebrow.
“Well, you know. Something like that. I might be exaggerating a bit.”
Ben laughed, and the jeep accelerated out onto the highway.
24
Ben
Ben was nervous. They had reached their rendezvous point, and the Green Beret team was already busy unloading the crates and duffel bags from the backs of the jeeps and carrying them into the one-story building. The building, a nondescript facility with broken windows and what appeared to have once been a gasoline pump out front, sat on a corner just outside of the small town they’d decided to stop in.
Ben checked his phone. He was sure Mr. E had equipped them with GSM-unlocked devices, but he still hadn’t heard anything from Julie. He’d tried calling a few times in the air, and once on the ground, but he’d gotten nothing.
Is she mad?
She had sent a single text after they’d taken off from Fort Carson, telling Ben that she’d be at the briefing meeting. He’d responded by asking if she knew where it was, what time they would meet, and if she was okay.
He’d heard nothing in response.
So he was feeling a bit nervous. Anxious? Scared? He knew he had never been great with emotions, especially his own. He wanted to see her, to know she was fine, but at the same time he knew he was upset with her for leaving him hanging.
And for forcing us all to fly to Peru.
He followed Reggie into the dark interior of the worn-down gas station. There were still racks on the main floor, as well as a beat-up register stand, but there were no products anywhere in sight. The fluorescent light fixtures above his head had been smashed in, and the bulbs that weren’t completely missing were broken.
Reggie passed through this area and turned left just after the register, where Ben caught sight of a swinging door. One of the Green Berets had just entered this secondary room, and he saw light bouncing throughout the store from this smaller chamber.
He entered and saw the antithesis of the rest of the gas station in this rectangular room: a clean, brightly lit interior, with non-broken chairs lined up in rows, all facing one of the short walls to Ben’s right. A projector had been set up on a pair of milk crates and was beaming a blank white light onto the wall. Sergeant Beale was standing, his hands behind his back, next to the wall.
And in one of the chairs, staring at Ben, was Julie.
He ran over, and she stood, crying. “Ben,” she said. “I’m — so… sorry.”
“It’s okay. I — I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I am. And I was. But I just… I don’t know what came over me. All of this; I didn’t mean for it to be —”
“Shh,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I… was mad.” He tried to smile. “But I just needed to see you. To talk to you.”
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Julie said. “I should have at least mentioned it to you, or consulted the group, and —”
“You did do those things, Jules,” Ben said. “And I was stubborn. We all knew this had to happen. Garza’s here, Julie. You were right. He’s here, and I don’t think he’ll stay here. Not for long.”
“Yeah…”
Reggie walked over and gave Julie a hug. “Where’s Victoria?”
Julie’s eyes widened quickly, then her face fell.
“What?” Ben asked.
“She’s… not here.”
“She didn’t come to Peru?”
“No, she did,” Julie said. “But she got off the plane and took a taxi. Told me that she had business to take care of, and that she was sorry, and…”
“And you think she’s going to find her father? To get to Garza?”
Julie nodded. “There’s no other ‘business’ she could have here.”
Sergeant Jeffers overheard this, and walked over to stand in the row directly in front of them. “That could be a problem, Ms. — sorry, Mrs. — Richardson.”
“I — I know. But I couldn’t stop her. I just was afraid to say anything before we talked in person.”
Jeffers glanced at Beale, whose expression was entirely unreadable.
“It’s okay,” Ben said. “We just need to hurry. If Garza wants to use her as leverage, he will. She may be his daughter, but he’s still the monster we know. He’s unpredictable, and he’ll do anything to maintain an edge.”
“Besides,” one of the other Green Berets said, “even if he doesn’t do anything to her, he’ll at least know we’re here.”
“True. He knows we were working together from the last time we came.”
They’d met Victoria through a twist of fate. The history professor had been kidnapped by a dark organization that was related to Freemasonry, and they’d brought her to Peru to continue unraveling the plans of the Catholic Church. Garza’s group had set up shop in the valley nearby, working from a different interpretation of the same information.
It had all been an unlucky coincidence that they’d ended up together, but they’d forged a friendship with the woman that had lasted well past their terrifying encounter here.
“Let’s get started then,” Beale said. The group — five Green Berets and the four CSO teammates — all sat down and waited for Beale to begin. He started by retrieving a stack of papers from a case on the chair in front of him, and he took one packet off the stack and handed the rest to Jeffers, who began passing them out.
Ben received his and saw that the top page was nothing but a cover page, with little detail as to what was inside. The packet was four pages total, with a map and legend on page two and more information about the mission beyond that. He was about to flip through and begin reading when Beale called their attention to the front of the room.
25
Ben
“Inside of this packet, you’ll find details of the mission. Locations, rendezvous points, timing. Everything’s there, and I won’t insult your intelligence by reading it all to you. But I will give you the overview and breakdown of essential mission parameters.
“First,” he continued, “we are Green Berets. ‘Force multipliers.’ That means we can fight, and we can do it well. But if we’re called in, it’s because there is a diplomatic reason for us not to fight. That’s why you all are here.” He looked up and made eye contact with Ben and his team. “We want to equip you to do the task required. We’re here for your support.”
Ben nodded. So far, so good.
“Second, we do not know this Ravenshadow group. We’ve heard of them, but none of us have experience engaging them. Again, you do. That’s why you’re here. We provide support, you interact with Vicente Garza and his men.”
Reggie frowned, and Ben looked at him as Beale continued.
“On page two you will see a map. This region, the Chachapoyas, is somewhat familiar to the CSO crew. Much of this valley is owned by the same order of Jesuits your friend, Archibald Quinones, is a part of, which works in our benefit as well. Therefore, the CSO will act as guides for us, though we will of course have GPS and satellite triangulation to help us navigate the dense jungle. Once we get there, we expect to find a large valley that stretches generally north to south, and some ancient structures dotting the landscape that were believed to have been built by the original inhabitants of the region.”
He looked up and met Ben’s eyes. Ben knew he wasn’t going to add, and we believe those original inhabitants were giants, even though that’s exactly what Ben and Reggie had put in their report. The ‘giants,’ they had discovered, were really just descendants of the ancient biblical tribe of Anakim — cousins of the Nephilim — and the same race of people that had given rise to the descendants of another famous biblical giant: Goliath.
Their history lesson of the area suggested that the original Chachapoyas, described by the Spanish conquistadors and the local Inca population as ‘light-skinned and reclusive,’ had come from somewhere in Europe, at some time after worldwide flooding had decimated their homeland. They sought refuge in the unknown lands to the west, ending up in South America.
And their relatives had been sprinkled throughout the postdiluvian world as well: the Aztecs had Quetzalcoatl, the ‘fair-skinned, bearded man of the sea,’ the Sumerians had Enki, and the Native Americans had their own versions of the flood legend and creation stories.
Ben and his team had found proof of these lost civilizations, both in Egypt and in Greece, and they had reason to believe that the reason the Chachapoyas had settled in Peru was to protect an ancient secret, one that had been nearly wiped out by the flood: their history, the history of the antediluvian world, kept in the ancient Hall of Records.
Beale, predictably, didn’t care about any of that.
Ben looked at the page, and he saw a contour map showing the elevations and geologic features of the area nearby. He immediately recognized the valley, stretching from one end of the side of a massive mountain to the other. That mountain was ground zero — where Garza’s team would be hiding.
“What I want to call your attention to, however, is this dark line that encircles the top half of the mountain at the center of your map. It’s a river, and it’s navigable. The mine that was built into the mountain used this river, as well as a natural spring emanating from the interior of the mountain, as its main water source.”
“So it’s an access point?”
“It could be,” Beale said. “We won’t know for sure until we’re staring it in the face, but if this Ravenshadow group is as equipped and well-trained as we believe them to be, shooting out the front door and walking in doesn’t seem to be in the cards.”
“Right,” Jeffers said. “So we need scuba gear.”
“Already taken care of,” one of the other men said.
Jeffers nodded, then looked up at the group. “Any questions so far?”
Reggie’s hand shot up.
“Mr. Red.”
“Yeah, uh, earlier you said interact. Not engage. I’m assuming that’s purposeful, but —”
“It is absolutely purposeful. As I said, our job is not to fight. It is to reach a compromise and a conclusion agreeable to all parties that ensures the —”
“Bullshit,” Ben said.
Beale looked visibly shocked. Apparently the soldier hadn’t had much experience with his team interrupting him in the middle of a presentation. “You got something to say, Bennett?”
Ben stood up. “I didn’t come down here to make a compromise, unless that compromise is you killing Garza instead of us.”
“Mr. Bennett, I understand your frustration —”
“You don’t understand crap. This guy — this egomaniac — he’s not just a crazy psychopath who wants power. He’s a crazy psychopath with an army.”
“We are planning to infiltrate their compound and take him by surprise, so we can have a one-on-one conversation with him that will —”
“He’s not going to like that very much, I suspect,” Ben said. “He tends to be of the “shoot first, ask questions later” sort of guy.”
“Mr. Bennett,” Beale said. “You will not interrupt me again.”
“Or what?”
Beale raised an eyebrow, and Ben thought he just might have to fight off a well-trained Green Beret. Probably not the best way to start the day.
“Or we will be transferring control of this situation back to the Peruvian government and escorting you and your team home. In handcuffs.”
“Got it,” Ben said. “So you’re advocating we all run in there with our assault rifles, not shooting at them, and hoping Garza will just sit down and have a chat with us?”
“No,” Beale said. “I’m not advocating anything. I’m mandating it. This is my mission, and these are my rules. Further, I’m not at all suggesting that we will be armed.”
“We won’t?” Reggie asked.
“That is correct,” Beale said. “You won’t be armed. My men will be. If you turn to page three, you will see the load out for this mission. You and your team, Mr. Bennett, will be carrying communications equipment and tracking devices, as well as emergency kits, should we need them.”
“And no guns,” Ben said through clenched teeth.
“And no guns. I’m not in the business of arming civilians.”
Jeffers shifted in his chair, and the other Green Beret who’d spoken earlier seemed to smirk for a split-second.
This is not good, Ben thought. This is not good at all.
26
Julie
The last two days had been a whirlwind for Julie. Rather than catching plenty of sleep during the ridiculously long flights, she’d been awake, thinking about Ben. Wondering if she’d made the right call, and feeling as though she’d made a horrible mistake.
Victoria had duped her, using the CSO to fund her flight to Peru just so she could ditch them and run after her father. There was no question in Julie’s mind that Victoria wanted vengeance, and she felt the same way, but the woman had proven to be a loose cannon.
And it had all felt like Julie’s fault. She’d wanted to force the issue, to force action. The plan had worked, as she knew it would, and now the CSO team was in Peru, nearly ready to face off against their long-time opponent. But she had been disappointed and dismayed to find out that the Green Beret contingent was relegating her team to the back seat. They were civilians, and they were now going to be forced to act like it.
She wanted to take it all back, to make it all go away, but the issue remained: Vicente Garza was here, and he was alive. She knew she couldn’t turn her back on that opportunity. She, like the man’s own daughter, wanted vengeance for what he’d done to her.
She saw Joshua Jefferson’s face in her mind. His handsome, youthful face, dimples and all. His brown, medium-length hair falling over his right eye. He was talking, saying something she couldn’t hear. She wanted to reach out and touch his hand, to grab it and pull him closer and tell him she was sorry.
But she couldn’t bring back the dead.
And she wanted Garza to experience that exact feeling.
Ben had followed her out of the room, into the decimated gas station, then waited for the rest of the Green Berets and CSO teams to exit. They were on a five-minute break, both to use the disheveled restroom and to cool down, which seemed ironic, considering it was nearing one-hundred degrees outside.
She met his eyes, and she walked over, ready to talk. Before she could open her mouth to apologize again, Sergeant Jeffers walked over. Ben introduced them, and Jeffers smiled down at them from his massive, tall frame.
“Sorry for that.”
“For what?” Ben asked.
“For Beale. He’s a good soldier, and a great leader. Been with him for years, actually. He just gets a little hot, is all.”
“Nothing to worry about,” Ben said. “I wasn’t really pissed at him, but with the situation. I know he’s just doing his job. We’re the odd-man out, I get it. He doesn’t want to worry about us shooting you all in the backs.”
“It’s not that,” Jeffers said.
Ben frowned.
“He said ‘I won’t arm civilians,’ didn’t he?”
“Something like that,” Julie said.
“Right. So that means he won’t arm you. The US Military won’t have anything to do with it.”
“But…”
“But that means he won’t bat an eye if you were to, uh, somehow procure your own. We got about half a day before we hit the road toward Bad Guy Mountain, and I’m assuming not all of you need the sleep.”
“Are you saying he won’t care if we bring our own weapons?”
Jeffers sniffed, then looked both ways, as if he were about to offer a drug deal. “He’s a good leader, like I said. A bit ‘by the book,’ if you ask me, but no one’s asking me.”
“He won’t be upset?” Julie asked.
Jeffers laughed. “Oh, I’m not saying that at all. He’ll be pretty pissed you didn’t obey his orders. But guess what? You don’t work for him.”
“We still need his help. Your help.”
“Yeah, I bet you do. Thing is, our mission is Garza, not keeping you folks out of trouble. And with your history — your background — and with guys like Red working with you, I know he trusts you all a hell of a lot more than he’d trust many other no-names in the force. So he feels the same way, really. We need your help just as much. His hands are tied, though. Mine aren’t, so I’m telling you how it is.”
Julie watched Ben as he considered it for a second. “You know anywhere we can get, uh, stuff?”
Jeffers took a step back and raised his arms, palm-up. “Whoa, whoa, what do I look like, an arms dealer?”
Ben smiled.
“I’m not telling you how to do it, I’m just telling you that you should. My opinion. Take it or leave it.”
Julie smiled as well, and stuck out her hand for Jeffers to shake. “I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’ll definitely take it. And I have a feeling our friend Gareth Red knows someone out here who’s miscreant enough to hook us up for a few days.”
